


Sometimes It's Easier to Dream

by colormyheartred



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-25
Updated: 2016-02-21
Packaged: 2018-04-28 01:47:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 36,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5073226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/colormyheartred/pseuds/colormyheartred
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>au; space pirate captain hook takes on a shipment of goods intended for delivery to a planet called misthaven. little did he know that he picked up a few stowaways as well. captain swan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

one

The junker ship had been an easy catch. It’d been running low on fuel anyway and they put up very little fight when they’d captured them and boarded. Mostly all that was on board was boxes and piles of complete nonsense, but they’d discovered a secret vault with some promising crates with expensive technology hardwired into them, so it was better than nothing. He’d ordered his men to grab most of the junk lying around anyway, to spite the bloody captain of the dingy craft.

He’s been on the hunt for something in particular for quite a long time, and with each passing day, his patience grows very thin. 

“Cap’n?”

Hook swivels on his heels at the helm, giving an annoyed look to his first mate. The rotund man with the red cap fidgets uneasily under his gaze.

“What is it, Smee? I’m about a half light-year from Neverland and I’m not very pleased with our last haul.”

Smee nods in understanding. “Aye, Sir, I understand,” Smee takes a breath, irritating Hook to no end, but he keeps quiet just so he’ll spit it out. “We found something in the… in the last haul, Sir. It was, um, heading to Misthaven, Sir.” 

Hook stiffens at the words and grits his teeth. “What did you find?“

“It, um, it’s hard to explain, Sir. You might want to just come down and see it for yourself.” Hook glances over at his helmsman and nods, a mutual agreement of the course already set.

He follows his first mate down the gravity tube to the very base of the ship where they store their hauls, and when Smee stops at a pile of long, rectangular metal crates, he takes his hat off and nervously spins it in his hands.

“Well?” Hook asks, raising a brow. The Jolly creaks beneath and around him and her soothing engine roars gently. He’s always had an appreciation for his ship and her each and every breath.

Smee swallows. “Sir, they’re… _people_. Frozen. Frozen people.”

Hook furrows his brows, looking at the pile of metal boxes. He sets his right hand over top of the closest one and shakes his head, confused. He refuses to let anger overwhelm him at the moment, though it tickles at his fingertips and beats heavily in his chest.

“Cryogenics were outlawed years ago.” Smee bobs his head. “So what about this is making you so nervous, Smee?”

The man’s eyes blow wide and he shakes his head. “We found this, Sir,” Smee hands him a tablet already on. Hook takes it and scans over the words.

His jaw locks and his heart jumps as he looks up at his first mate. “Bloody hell, Smee. We can’t keep these. Get them off of the Jolly right _now_.” 

Smee bumbles around for a moment, stuttering and muttering his words, until Hook shoves him up against a pile of crates.

“What did you do, you blathering idiot?“

His first mate looks at him sorrowfully for a second. “We may’ve… opened one.” 

Hook drops the man to the floor and steps back angrily, looking around the cargo hold until he sees one of the metal boxes out of place. He storms up to it and looks down. 

There is still a thick layer of blue ice on the skin of the woman lying in the casket, but her features are very distinguishable. She is young and innocent, completely unaware still of the fact that the ice will slowly drown her if they don’t get her out of the container fast enough.

Hook curses, loudly. He runs his hand over his head. “Bloody hell, Smee. We haven’t got a doctor on board that will be able to help her.” 

Smee looks greatly grieved when Hook looks over at him. “‘m sorry, Captain. It wasn’t my idea to open one up- it was Rollins. He did it.”

Hook growls as he glances around the cargo hold. “I’ll deal with Rollins, then. Let’s get her up to my quarters. She’ll need a hot bath and clothes straight away. And she’ll be confused, so I only want her to speak with the two of us, at most. Keep the other men away from her.“

Smee bobs his head. Hook grits his teeth. “Now, I’ve got to figure a way to get rid of these blasted people, because I sure as hell am _not_ getting caught by the police with the missing royals on board my ship. Keep her here until I return and let no one touch her. I need to settle a few things about our plans at Neverland. I won’t be long.”

“Aye, Cap’n.” 

Hook storms away with a flap of his long black coat and clenches his fist as he enters the lift. He closes his eyes as his heart rams against his chest. Memories of a time he never wants to remember, but always does, flood in, and he steels himself with deep breaths as the ache settles within his chest.

_“Liam! No!”_

_Cold, freezing. Lifeless. Blood, everywhere._

_“Help! Someone, help! Please!”_

The doors to the lift peel back with a pressurized hiss and he steps out onto the main bridge, storming straight toward the intercom system. 

“Listen up, gents,” he sneers into the microphone, “I have had just about enough of people trying to override my leadership on this ship. If you think you’re in charge here, let me just reassure you that youmost certainly are not.” He pauses, taking a deep breath. “Rollins, get your prissy arse on the bridge. We’ve got a few things to talk about.“

+++

When Emma Swan awakes, it is to complete and utter darkness and it is _terrifying_.

She immediately squirms, trying to feel her body and figure out where she might be, but all she feels is nothingness, as if she is in a void and has been wrapped tight in a blanket or cocoon. She opens her mouth, gasping for air when she realizes a burning, a _pinching_ in her chest, and the air can’t come. 

“Miss! Miss, calm down!” For a moment, the pinching pressure continues, until she feels as if it’s all lurched out of her, and the air flows freely again. “It’s alright. You’re safe now.” The voice is soft and distant, and she doesn’t exactly feel safe hearing it, because it is also quite unfamiliar. Her body relaxes back because it’s the easiest thing to do at the moment. “That’s right, Miss. Just rest. You’ll be alright if you rest.”

She opens her eyes as soon as she feels capable and finds her vision blurry, but at least she can see a little. From the place she lies in, there is a low hum of voices, as if in conversation, and she swallows, lifting up her hand as best she can. She feels so _heavy_  and _so_ dizzy.

“Ah ah!” a low voice cuts through the roaring heartbeat in her ears. “Don’t move, darling. You’re still thawing out.” 

Emma opens her mouth and tries to ask, “Where am I?” But, the man doesn’t respond, so she thinks the words must not have come out as intelligible. She feels a warm burst somewhere lower on her body and she imagines it’s this dark blob of a man trying to adjust something on her.

“We don’t have any of the shots to bring you back,” he tells her, “but we’re going to put you in the bath now, alright? That should fasten this process so you’ll be able to use that pretty mouth of yours soon.”

She internally grimaces at his words and she suddenly feels very unsafe. Who is this man? Where is she? Her parents were supposed to wake up first. Why aren’t they the ones waking her up?

More warmth covers her body and she suddenly feels light. She supposes this must be her getting moved to the bath, and when even more heat consumes her, she knows it must be the case.

The heat feels _good_ , surrounding each inch of her, with the blaring exception of her head. For a moment, there’s a sloshing sound that covers her ears and she gasps for air, feeling the drowning sensation all over again. It terrifies her. _She can’t breathe_.

“Dammit, Smee! Go to the bridge! I’ll take care of her.” 

“Aye, Cap’n.”

She coughs up water and air returns to her, blissfully filling her lungs and helping her rest just a little.

It takes her a few minutes longer after she thinks she hears the man walk away for her eyesight to start to return to her.

Her hearing is basically restored by this point. She hears a lot of things. There’s a low humming, which she thinks is probably the ship she’s apparently on.

Of course, there’s the sloshing of water very loud in her ears from the way the water is covering her. She thinks she hears the man who is with her breathing, an uneven noise. He sniffs and she hears his boots against the floor. The _metal_  floor.

_Clank, clank, clank_. His boots stop a ways away from her. Then she hears a drawer open. _Slosh_ , _slosh_.

She sucks in a breath and concentrates on what she can feel. She definitely can feel the water. She tests out wiggling her fingers first, and then successfully stirs the water with a _plop_.

The man returns, his boots clunking along, and she can actually see him when he kneels down beside the white tub she’s lying in.

He is darkly dressed, with dark hair and a beard. His eyes are bright blue, accented by the black makeup applied to them. He is handsome, but she doesn’t find him to be a very _safe_  face, not entirely. There is a certain kindness in his voice, but he looks angry and hurt, as if helping her pains him. And at the same time, he is inviting, somehow, trustworthy.

She suddenly realizes that she’s _naked_  in front of this strange man and becomes overwhelmed with the need to cover herself. 

Her breathing quickens and she screams, the noise cracked and broken as it escapes her throat. He looks stunned, shaking his head and holding up a blanket.

“Shh. It’s alright. I’m not going to hurt you, love. Just- here. I’ll help you into some clothes, aye? That way you’ll be covered up.” 

Emma nods as much as she can and he releases a sigh. “Can you move your arms?“

She lifts her right arm and then her left, but they’re too heavy, so she drops them back into the water with a loud _plunk_.

He nods. “Very well. You need a few more minutes, then.” 

He takes a few steps back and she watches him sit down in a chair a small distance from her. 

Her chest heaves with breaths when she looks down at her body. The last thing she remembers before the freezing was her parents promising that they would come out on the other side first, that they’d bring her to and then they’d be safe and free again. 

But now, she’s in a tub on a ship with a dark man who she’s never seen before. 

Emma would cry, but she realizes that she has no real reason to cry. Not yet. This man might be frightening right _now_ , but he hasn’t hurt her. Maybe he has some answers.

“I believe the Data Log said your name was Emma, is that right?” he asks. Emma’s eyes shoot over to him and she uneasily nods. “Well, Emma, my name is Captain… _Jones_.” His pause gives her hesitation, and him as well, because his face looks pained and concerned before he continues. “I realize you must be confused, just rest assured that everything will be settled with time. We’ve got a lot of history to cover.”

She furrows her brow, narrowing her vision at him. “Right, you don’t know how long you were frozen for.” Captain Jones smiles a little, reaching up to scratch at his ear.

Her brain starts to buzz. Her parents told her that it would only be ten years, maybe a little longer. All they needed to do was get safely away from Regina and— “Erm… Emma, you were asleep almost fifty years.“


	2. Chapter 2

two

To say he wasn’t prepared for her reaction to his announcement would be understating it.

It takes her about five heartbeats to even blink, and looking back on it, he realizes that he should’ve sensed something like the statement that she’s been _asleep for fifty years_ should’ve been saved for a time where she wouldn’t have reacted like she did.

She screams, louder than she did the first time, and her limbs become frantic in the water, as if she could just jump out of the tub and dive back in time to whenever it was she was _supposed_  to be unfrozen. 

He grimaces as her palm comes in contact with his cheek, her fingers cupping over his eye. He growls and fights her flailing, cupping his own palm over her mouth so she stops yelling. Most of the crew doesn’t know she’s on board and he wants to keep it that way.

The less his men know about the illegal cargo sitting in his hold the better. 

“Listen,” he growls, lifting his eyebrows, “You and I need to work together if we’re going to figure out what to do with you.” 

Emma sighs into his damp hand and her eyes soften, her body falling slack in his hold. Whatever power she’d mustered up to fight him, it’s gone now. 

“That’s a good girl,” he murmurs, gently wrapping her up in a blanket after removing her from the tub. Water sloshes onto the floor and he decides he’ll get Smee to clean it later.

He carries her out of the bathroom in his arms, her legs draped over his forearm like a rag doll, and settles her down on the bed. 

She shakes and shivers for a moment while he goes to grab the clothes he’d set out for her to wear.

“If I leave you to change, will you stay put? I can’t have you wandering around my ship. If you want to get back home, you’ll need to stay here.” 

Emma blinks twice before she nods and he smiles again, wider. “I’ll be back soon. I’ve got to make sure we dock properly. Last time, we nearly severed the wing clear off because of some idiot at the wheel.” 

“Where are we?” she asks. Her voice is small and cracks, and it surprises him, because looking at her, he’d thought she wouldn’t be able to speak just yet.

He settles his hand on the curve of his hook. “Neverland,” 

His voice comes out in a growl and he turns promptly, hitting the button to step out of the cabin.

This ship used to be a starcraft owned by the finest intergalactic military there ever was. It’s kept up over the years, something he’s had a heavy hand in, though there are key signs that the ship has turned alliances to that of self-service.

He’s proud of her, his ship, and he’s proud that it’s held up through all of these years, through battles and time in deep space, through near misses with solar flares and being boarded by police.

_The Jolly_ is his home and he’s never considered leaving her. Why would he, when she’s the last thing he’s got of Liam, of his past life and the vengeance that keeps him moving?

When he reaches the bridge, some of his men look over at him. Smee sits at the forward controls with the helmsman, Evans, and Hook nods at the two of them before turning his attention to the large window that shows him the space station called Neverland afloat in space.

“Well? Are we going to dock her or not?” 

Smee clears his throat. “Um, Sir, we haven’t been cleared.” 

Hook rolls his eyes. “That _boy_ ,” Hook turns again, going straight to his chair. “Smee, open a channel. Evans, if you would prepare to put us under in case he tries something?“

Both men nod and hurry off to do their duties. “Channel’s open, Cap.”

“Pan!” he bellows. “Let me dock, you brat.” 

It takes a moment, but the teenager’s image flickers onto the screen at the front of the deck. “Ah, Captain. What a wonderful surprise.“

Hook snarls at his enemy, shaking his head. "What’s this about now?”

Pan leans back in his seat. “The last time you were here, you took something from me that I miss quite a bit.”

“What?” Hook crinkles his brow, disgusted and confused. 

Pan shakes his head. “A quarter of my docking spaces were soiled because of your sodding ship! You were careless and-”

“Oi!” Hook shouts, cutting the twerp straight off. “We’ve got a hold _full_ of junk for _your_ yard. Let us dock and we’ll make a trade.”

The boy glares at him, locking his jaw, before he presses a button. “Alright, Hook. You get an hour.”

+++

Emma sits on the bed, holding the blanket tighter to her chest. She is still _so_  cold, and so very confused. Her teeth chatter as she glances around the room and her chest tightens with coldness, everything within her aching and burning with the aftershocks of being frozen for, apparently, fifty years.

It’s a large living space. She sits on a massive bed, and to her left there is a bathroom with the tub she’d been lying in.

A doorway straight ahead of her reveals a living area. A desk with tablets and computers seems to be where most of the attention lies in this room, so she bets this must be the captain’s quarters. 

She shutters thinking about him again. He’d been gentle with her, yes, but his tone had been angry and cold. He couldn’t have been a worse host for her. 

Beside her on the bed, there is a pile of clothes that she stares at for a long while before she decides that she should just get dressed before someone comes to find her. 

The clothes he’d provided her with are a little big, but they do the job. She wraps up in the blanket as soon as everything has been settled and takes deep breaths as she paces around the cabin.

All she wants to do is walk around and get answers, but all she finds herself capable of right away is pacing through Captain Jones’ living area.

Her limbs are still adjusting to being used again, her feet shuffling as her knees wobble with uncertainty. More than once, she has to stop and reach out for something to grab onto for balance, but after a few minutes and the desire to not be held down by herself, she is able to walk on her own. Slowly, but she can do it.

There are big windows here, where she can see billions of tiny specks of light shimmering and glistening for her. To the left, there is a massive mechanical structure free floating in space. It is rugged and beaten down, but the ship is flying straight to it, past a large sign that informs it’s guests of it’s location.

“Neverland,” she murmurs, furrowing her brow. Her fingers grasp at her blanket tighter as she hears the door open again.

Emma turns at the sound, eyes wide. She isn’t sure she’s seen the man who enters the cabin, but he smiles slightly at her, a little nervous grin, and holds out a tray.

“The Captain wishes that you’d eat, Miss.” 

She’d heard the voice before. Emma stares at him for a moment and narrows her eyes. “Smee?“

He bobs his head. “Aye, Miss. I suppose you overheard us earlier.” Smee starts walking toward her. “Apologies for dropping your head into the water like that. It wasn’t proper of me.”

He sets the tray down at a small table beside the sofa. She stares at it, at the sofa, and then at Smee before she carefully crosses the room.

“Captain says we’ll be docking in about ten minutes, Miss. He wants you to stay here and recover.”

When she sits on the sofa, Smee settles the tray down in her lap and holds out a spoon for her. She takes it, reluctant to remove her arm from the safety of the blanket, and stares down at the soup on the tray. 

The soup tastes a little bland, but it is _hot_  and it feels _fantastic_  sliding down her throat and toward her belly. She hums as she takes her second spoonful, and that loosens Smee up a little.

He releases a happy sigh and sits across from her in a matching chair.

“Where are my parents?” she asks between spoonfuls. Smee stares at her quietly, then plucks his red hat from his head and fidgets with it. Her shoulders drop and she leans back. “Are they here?” 

“Miss, I don’t think I should be the one to tell you about the Cap’n’s plans. They’re his plans, after all, an’ I dunno what he’s got in mind for the lot of you.” 

Emma’s heart sinks in her chest and she suddenly feels like she can’t eat another bite. “What does he want to do with us?“

Smee shakes his head. “As I said, Miss, I’m not the Cap’n, so I’d best not say.” 

She blinks and the ache rising in her chest, the fear settling in her gut, urges her to fight, to find answers and to get _home_ , but she is also reasonable. She knows that if Smee isn’t going to tell her, then she should just wait and talk with the captain. At least the captain will have all of the information she needs and won’t just have pieces of it.

Emma takes her spoon and fills it with soup, then raises it to her lips, taking it and swallowing like it’s medicine.

For all she knows right now, she’s a prisoner, and this is her last meal.

+++

Hook growls when the doors open and Pan stands there with his minions. He curls his hand into a fist and then releases it, pulling on a sarcastic smile on his way down the ramp of his cargo hold and into the dock of Neverland.

“Well, if it isn’t Peter Pan and his Lost Boys,” Hook says lightly, tone laced with hatred.

Pan gives him a look. “And Captain Hook on his precious _Jolly Roger_. Where’s that bumbling first mate of yours? I’ve missed him.”

Hook shakes his head once and then turns to his men.

“Davis! As we said: all of the haul _except_ for what I specified. Keep those on board.” Hook says, waving his hand to Pan, who stands with his arms folded to his chest. Hook swaggers up closer to the teenager after his crew starts moving. “And now you and I will talk _prices_. You won’t be playing me this time, mind you, boy.” 

“Of course not,” Pan grins sarcastically. “Come along, Hook. We should do this over rum.”

Hook locks his jaw, making another fist. “It would be my pleasure.“

He follows the boy to his office upstairs, passing by smaller ships and their crews.

Young people are everywhere, laughing and talking in groups; their bodies dirty with oil and grease. It makes Hook sick to his stomach, thinking about the fact that _children_ are operating a barely functioning space station.

“Have you found it, Hook?” Pan asks as they enter his office. Hook shuts the door behind him and rolls his eyes as he looks at the boy.

“If I had, you wouldn’t be taking yet _another_ of my hauls.”

Pan sits in his chair and throws his legs up onto his desk, pushing around documents, bottles, and wrappers. He reaches for his tablet and Hook yanks a chair out to sit across from him.

“Too true, Hook,” the boy scoffs. He gives him a dirty look. “I’ve been waiting _how long_ again for you to find it?”

“Don’t even bring it up, _boy_ ,” Hook growls. “I’m off doing your dirty work while you and your orphans live the high life off of _my_ spoils. Believe me, no one is more motivated to find it than I am.”

Pan just raises an eyebrow at him. “You do know that I will maintain sole ownership of _The Jolly Roger_ until it is found, and therefore, you will only do _my_ bidding until then, right?”

Hook grits his teeth and his gut twists angrily. “ _The Jolly Roger_ belongs to me. I just return my spoils to you. _That_ was our agreement.”

Pan turns his tablet to show him the signed document. He points at a particular line and leans back in his chair when Hook takes the tablet from him.

His hand curls tight around the device and he nearly breaks it, almost loses control of himself and tosses it into a wall, but instead he looks at Pan with a snarl on his lips.

“You tricked me.”

The boy shrugs. “Don’t know about that, Captain. You were desperate for your victory, however small _that_ was, and in return, I asked you for a favor. A favor you have spent five years of your life trying and failing to succeed at finding, might I add.”

In the heavy silence that befalls them, Hook tries his hardest to quell his anger toward the _child_ sitting across from him. He’s got him in by far the most difficult of positions and he’s not sure what he’s supposed to do about it.

“What are you getting at, then, mate?” he spits out, tossing his hand up. “You want me to take out anymore of your enemies while you sit on your throne drinking your precious water?”

Hook tosses the tablet onto Pan’s desk and the boy drops his legs, leaning forward, his hands pressing together in front of his mouth as he studies him.

The boy knows exactly what he’s doing, and how he’ll push the buttons he needs to in order to get him to do his bidding.

In order to gain some semblance of control, Hook takes his flask of rum at his hip and downs a hard gulp of it. It does help take some of the edge off.

“There’s a man who flies the stars,” Pan tells him. “He goes by the name of The Author, and I’ve been lead to believe he’s got what we’re looking for.”

Hook stares at him silently. “The Author. Where might one go to find him?”

Pan shrugs. “I’ve heard rumors he’s been seen near The Line. You could start there.”

Hook snorts under his breath. “I’m not going to The Line, Pan. It’s dangerous.”

He shoves back from the desk and licks his lips as he starts for the door. “And I want full price for the haul today.”

“Like hell you’re getting full price. You brought me-“

Hook whips around, his coattails flapping behind him. He storms toward the desk and reaches down to take Pan by his shirt.

“Full. Price.” He spits. “I’ve had enough of you and your manipulation. I’ll find your bloody _believer_ when I see fit. In the meanwhile, I hope you’ll be satisfied with the hauls I bring in. Maybe instead of sitting on your arse all day you could put yourself to work and do some digging on your own for a change.”

He gives Pan a good long glare before shoving him back down into his chair. He heads back for the door and turns to him.

“I’ll transfer the credits now.” Pan tells him with a look he would only deem appropriate for a teenager.

Hook doesn’t say anything else, just heads down the metal staircase and past the groups of boys working on unloading other vessels as he heads for his. He needs to get the hell out of Neverland and back into space so he can figure out what he’s going to do with Emma and her parents.

He _cannot_ risk being caught with illegal cargo on his ship.

One of his men is standing at the base of his ship, a worried look on his face. Hook tilts his head at him.

“What is it?”

“They… Captain, there’s nothing left in the cargo hold.” Hook narrows his eyes at his officer and then glances up at the ship to verify that as true. “They… they took the entire haul.”


	3. Chapter 3

three

“What do you _mean_  they took the entire haul?” Hook bellows, storming up the ramp. His men scatter, fear in their faces, and he sneers at them as soon as he has a look around. “What did you do?”

His men all go still and he sighs, shaking his head. “How long has it been since they took everything?”

“It’s been about a half hour, Sir,” Davis tells him.

Hook feels the anger rising in his chest and resolves to put it all out on Pan rather than his men, nodding at the man.

“Very well. Everyone to your stations. I’ve got to go deal with the demon before we take off.” 

No questions are asked further and Hook takes broad steps back down to the port, moving as swiftly as he can through crowds and piles of junk to Pan’s office.

Having only just left it, he loathes the fact that he’s going back. The boy thinks he can constantly get away with nonsense like this. He’s always toying with him, always trying to find a way to take the upper hand, and just when Hook had finally felt as if he’d gotten it, the boy ripped it right away.

He doesn’t bother with pleasantries when he enters the office, storming straight up to Pan’s desk with a growl on his lips.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing? You don’t get to take my entire haul! Our deal was everything I set aside stays on _my_ ship, you bloody imbecile.” 

Pan smiles at him, tilting his head to the side, completely unfazed by his anger.

“Captain, let me tell you something. I do not negotiate with anyone who thinks themselves more important than me in respects to damage to personal property. Besides, _The Jolly Roger_ is mine. I thought I made myself clear. There was no _real_ agreement here.” 

Hook scowls. “Bloody hell there wasn’t!” He reaches across the desk and yanks the boy up by the collar of his shirt, drawing tangible fear from him for the first time all day. “You will return my belongings to me. _Now_.” 

For a moment, the fear in Pan’s eyes stays, until it softens and he smirks. “Can’t do that, Hook.” 

His hold on the boy’s collar tightens, pulling a wince from him. “Why the hell not?“

“It’s already been sold. And it’s probably halfway out of the system by now. The buyer was very eager, according to Felix.”

Hook grits his teeth, searching Pan’s eyes for a lie, before he shoves him back down into his chair.

“Who did you sell it to?” 

Pan stares at him. “I won’t say. Confidentiality agreements, you know.”

Hook would fight him, but he knows better by now. After years of dealings with the bastard, he has a good idea when the boy will go closed-lipped.

So he doesn’t respond, just turns around and stalks through the door back toward his ship.

Of all the things he thought the haul from a sodding junker would bring, a trip to Tortuga was _not_  one of them.

Not even to mention the fact that he’s now got the Princess of Misthaven on his ship, no clue where her parents are, and no idea how he’ll ever avoid being captured by the police. Being a pirate in space is difficult enough without housing wanted missing persons.

And he’s _not_ a good enough man to let a princess stay on his ship for very much longer than is necessary.

+++

Nerves prickle at her fingertips and a knot tightens within her belly as she paces the captain’s living area. Smee is standing in the other room by the door and she’s glad for it, but it unnerves her at the same time.

They’ve been at Neverland for a long while and she still has a hundred questions and answers that she needs.

She needs them so badly that her heart weighs heavy in her chest, a burning pain, of missing her parents, of being in a place that isn’t home, and of overall bewildering confusion. Being on some ship in the middle of nowhere does nothing to soothe her concerns about the details of her future.

When the ship starts to move away from it’s position at port, she stops pacing and takes a soft breath as she studies the window and the ship’s trajectory. She doesn’t know where they are in space, or what they even were doing at Neverland, but it worries her.  

The door opens with a hiss and she turns, her heart stuttering for a beat at the realization that _this_ is her moment.

The captain steps into the room with a cocky grin on his face after dismissing Mister Smee to the bridge, his hand on his belt buckle, his head tilted just so.

“Ah,” he says, drawing closer to her. “So you’ve found your legs, I see.” 

She straightens at his comment and nods, but even after a long while of contemplation, Emma still isn’t sure of what her first question to the captain should be.

“Where am I?” 

Captain Jones stares at her for a moment and then takes a few steps closer, eventually stopping an arms length apart from her.

“I realize you must have a lot of questions,” he says lowly, “so do I, actually, so just promise me you’ll keep your head while I give you your answers, aye?” 

Emma nods slowly, warily.

Captain Jones gestures to the sofa and she has a seat, a shuttering breath escaping her lungs as the nerves pinch and twist in her stomach. He sits beside her and studies her for a second.

She does the same to him, searching him for any amount of security she can take.

He is less angry, but he is still dark. His eyes have darkened a hue and it seems like he genuinely cares about what he’s telling her, so she takes that as a tentative sign of safety, because surely a man who has the level of gentleness in his eyes such as the captain does wouldn’t want to send her to her death.

“You are on a ship called _The Jolly Roger_ , my ship, and we’re on our way to a planet called Tortuga.”

Emma searches his eyes and narrows hers, shaking her head.

“You’re pirates, then.” He looks surprised for a second, and then nods. “When I was growing up, I heard stories…”

Captain Jones’ eyes light up. “Well, you’re in luck then, because you’ve stumbled right into some.”

He raises his eyebrows playfully and smirks, dropping it after a split second. “We captured and boarded a junker ship a few hours ago that we found you on. It wasn’t my idea to let you out. That was one of my idiot crewmen. Rest assured he’s been… excused.”

Emma feels a chill crawling her spine at the words and she takes a deep breath to fill the base of her lungs. “Were my parents with me? Are they on board?”

The captain’s jaw shifts and he glances down at the floor before shaking his head. “I’m afraid we… lost them.” 

Her eyes blow wide and she gapes. “ _What_? How could you _lose_  them? They were in freezing containers!”

Emma stands up and he looks pained, sighing before looking at her.

“Settle down, darling, I already told you, we need to keep our heads if we’re going to work this out.”

She takes a few heaving, frustrated breaths, before settling down again. Her mind is racing and her entire body is tense with fury and fear. She doesn’t understand how anyone could just _lose_  two people like that. 

She has been through _way_ too much for this to be how she spends the rest of her life, without her parents. Her parents, whom she’d spent so much of her life apart from. And it isn’t _fair_ that it’s been fifty years. It’s the worst possible curse.

“What happened to them?” she asks through gritted teeth. 

“We were just docked at Neverland,” he informs her, “and Pan, an enemy of mine, went behind my back and unloaded _all_  of our haul. I tried to get them back, but he apparently already sold them.” 

Emma’s heart sinks. Without her parents, she is truly alone. It isn’t safe. There isn’t security here on his ship. There’s nothing preventing him from sending her out on her own, stranding her on a planet, or _worse_ , sending her out into space without a suit. Captain Jones is a _pirate_  and she doesn’t know if, or how, she’ll ever get her parents back and-

“That’s why we’re heading to Tortuga,” Captain Jones tells her, his voice certain and gentle. She tilts her head to face him again and he smiles. “It was my fault they were taken, and I already feel bloody awful for what happened to you, being woken up and all. I’ve got a contact there that will be able to help.” 

She relaxes a little, a small smile finding her lips.

Captain Jones shifts a little on the sofa and runs his fingers along the curve of his hook where his left hand used to be. She supposes it’s collateral damage, his hook, because he’s a pirate. She doesn’t even want to know how or why he chose the hook, instead of getting himself fixed with a prosthetic or a mechanical equivalent.

Part of her wonders if it’s all for looks, that maybe he uses it to appear scarier than he actually is.

“We’ll be at Tortuga in about a day. So in the meanwhile, I need you to stay put. Only a few of my men know you’re on board and I’d like to keep it that way.” 

Emma nods. “What would you have me do in that time, then?” 

He shrugs. “Rest. Have something to eat. I know the last thing you want to do is that, but I can’t risk your being seen.” 

She tilts her head, furrowing her brow. “Why not?” 

He winces a little and bites at his lower lip. “Because, Your Highness, you and your parents are missing. I don’t know all of the details, but I do know that if _anyone_  is caught with the lot of you, it’s straight to prison, if even.” He shakes his head. “God only knows what they’d do if they caught you with a crew of pirates.” 

Emma swallows. “So we must have gotten off course, then. That explains why it’s been fifty years.” She looks down at her lap. “We were supposed to be flying across the galaxy to go back home. It was supposed to be safe there, from my grandmother, Regina. She was the ruling queen over Erebus.”

The captain’s forehead creases. “Regina?”

Emma nods. “Do you know of her?”

Captain Jones nods slowly.

“Aye. Her mother, actually. The two of them are quite the pair.” He looks away from her, his hand working at his chin, rubbing the scruff there. She begins to wonder how he would ever know of Regina and her mother. Perhaps he, too, was frozen once. His gaze returns to her. “The first goal should be finding your parents. Then we’ll work out the logistics of returning you home.” 

Emma nods. “Alright.” Captain Jones stands and starts to walk away, but Emma rises to her feet and stops him. “Captain?“

He turns. “Aye?”

“Why are you helping me? You could just as easily have dumped _me_  off at Neverland along with my parents.”

The captain grits his teeth and curls up a fist before relaxing each.

“Because it wouldn’t be good form of me to do that, Princess.” There’s softness about him in this moment that she thinks might be a reflection of the man hidden beneath the darkened expression he wears as a mask. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’d best be off to my bridge.” 

Emma watches as the captain leaves her in his quarters. She feels uneasy about it all, about staying put when her parents are all alone with some unknown entity. They could be already gone, and she could be the last remaining heir of her mother’s kingdom. 

No, she will not allow Captain Jones to manhandle _her_  mission to find her parents, to go back to Misthaven, and to live her life as it was supposed to be all those years ago.

If she wants to get her parents back, she’s going to do whatever it takes, and if that means breaking a few rules set by the captain of this ship, she’ll do it.


	4. Chapter 4

four

At first, Emma attempts to leave the captain’s quarters so she might demand things of the captain in front of his crew, like full control of her mission to find her parents, but she finds that the door is sealed shut, locked, and it makes her angry, slumping her shoulders as she lets out a groan.

She hates that the captain seems to believe that she’s his _duty_ to take care of, because if Emma Swan is anything, it’s her own person.

It becomes boring a few hours after the captain leaves her as one might leave their pet before leaving for the day.

Emma ends up going through his personal items, not caring that it’ll be something Captain Jones will get angry over if he decides to come back for her, and she fiddles with little knickknacks as she slouches down in his desk chair, legs propped up on the wood.

It’s nice, she thinks, that he has a little personal touch in his room. A desk like this has to be incredibly old, and priceless. She’s not sure people treasure the past like this very much anymore, even fifty years ago hardly anyone had something like this.

She trails her fingers along the edges of his drawers, fingers them open to find paper and books, bewilderment filling her eyes as she lifts a leather-bound novelty.

It is a book about sailing, which makes her smile a little as she opens the jacket and fingers over some pages.

She lifts the book to her nose, giving it a deep breath. It smells like musk and imagination, and her greedy fingers flip through it so she can read some, no matter that it’s on a subject she could really care less about.

Books were something she was never allowed as a child, especially books about fairytales, or books about happy endings. She was, after all, stranded on a planet with her grandmother insistent that she learn her magic, not caring about anything but dragging the power from the tips of her fingers.  

As she reads over the book, her mind drifts; to that simmering feeling of regret under the surface of every action she takes. Regret that she didn’t _do_ something when she could back on Erebus.

It was a long time ago now, and she aches, because everything she loves, everything she cares so deeply for, is probably gone, along with that terrible place, and Regina right along with it.

At least she can hope.

Tears burn behind her eyes and she closes them, hating herself for thinking so hard about this. All that really should matter is finding her parents, because she _knows_ they’re okay, that they’re just lost, and it shouldn’t be too difficult to find them, not with the technology that exists and the people the captain apparently knows.

The door opens with a hiss and she looks over to see the captain. Her eyes widen at the sight of him and her feet hit the floor with a loud clatter, the book closing with a _thud_. 

She stands and squares her shoulders properly, holding her hands in front of her as if she were a child about to be scolded. A moment passes before she realizes that she’s being ridiculous, that she _needs_  the upper hand here if she’s to ever get her way.

This sort of behavior was something Regina conditioned into her, and she’s angry because of that, because she’s far, _far_ from the reaches of that woman and her plans now.

Emma walks proudly toward him, her eyes narrow and her words precise.

“I will be joining you when you start your search for my parents on Tortuga. And I’m not going to spend the rest of my time with you cooped up in here. I spent fifty years asleep, and I’m not going spend anymore time being useless.”

She searches his eyes and he hers until he sighs, relenting a nod.

“Very well. After we stop in Tortuga, we can… make something up about your identity. Trust me when I say we don’t want any of my crew finding out that it’s the Princess of Misthaven we’ve got aboard our ship.” 

Emma’s heart flutters at his words. She’s hardly a princess, but it’s her identity so she can’t blame him for continuing to address her as such.

She’d been taken from her parents at a young age, brought to the planet of Erebus by her grandmother, Regina, whom she’d called in secret the Evil Queen.

She had grown up under Regina’s watchful gaze, not permitted very many friendships outside of hers, and Regina had been insistent that Emma bore some sort of magic, had attempted ripping it out of her using her own, but nothing ever worked.

Eventually, her parents showed up in a fiery blaze, with a plan that took the grace and kindness of a man whom Emma had just befriended, to save them from Regina’s military.

They’d been frozen for the sake of the journey and shipped off to home, hopefully to a time where Regina’s maddening rule would be over and they could live in peace.

Emma had to leave a lot on Erebus, including her son. Regina’s planet was under siege by Misthaven’s forces and there was war _everywhere_. Her son had been five at the time, staying with August in his home in the dark woods so that Regina wouldn’t know about him.

Her son had no chance of getting off of Erebus alive and even if he were living now, he’d be much older than her. It’s part of the reason why she’s so distressed about having lost fifty years of time.

She loves her son more than anything and having to leave him behind on Erebus haunts her every breath and she wishes _desperately_ that she could right her wrongs and go back, somehow, to change things.

“Okay,” she nods.

She stares at him.

He is rather handsome, now that she can look at him without questions fogging her mind. His features are gentle towards her, much gentler than she’d seen him be with Mister Smee, and she wonders why it is that he wants to take such good care of her.

She isn’t anyone special, not to him. She is probably _so_ plain to his taste. She probably reeks of poverty and insignificance to him as she stands there in rags and pale skin. 

“You’ll be my wife,” he tells her. 

His words shock her into attention. Her eyes widen and her jaw falls open. She shakes her head. “ _Excuse me_?”

He smirks, and for once she sees the pirate instead of the concerned man.

“That will be what we tell the crew. I’ll send them off to enjoy the port and then I’ll return for you. When we come back, I’ll say we’ve been married a while, you just insisted upon joining us for a time.”

Emma swallows. The concept of marriage had been hard even before she woke up, and now she’s just supposed to act it for sake of a pirate and his plans?

“I need your word that my parents will be found. And that you’ll bring us to Misthaven.”

Captain Jones nods. “Of course.”

Emma sucks in a breath, nodding. Maybe it won’t be _terrible_. Having to be the captain’s wife will allow her to walk around the ship, and she might even be allowed to _do_ things, take part in this mission of finding her parents. That’s all she needs now, seeing as they’re the only people she has left in this universe.

“Okay. What will you call me?”

The captain shrugs. “Emma will do. I don’t think my crew will be able to make the connection if it’s just your first name.”  

She feels like this is some weird business transaction. They’re both standing kind of stiffly and their words are very professional. But, it’s for the best. She doesn’t like pirates and she wants to get off of this ship as fast as possible. 

She fidgets with her fingers at her sides. "And what should I call you? I doubt calling my husband  _Captain Jones_ would go unnoticed.”

His jaw tightens and he steps into the room more, his eyes noticing the desk she’d been sitting at. He starts moving toward the desk behind her fast, fury in the way his boots hit the floor.

“What the hell were you doing? Touching my personal things?”

Emma steps to the side, watching him as he examines the desk. He looks at her again with disbelief in his eyes. 

“Hook will do fine,” he tells her with an edge. “And I will _not_ have you going through my things.”

“Well, if you had let me do things, maybe I wouldn’t have!”

He stares at her with wide, angry eyes, as if he can’t believe she’d snap back at him. Then, he corners her up against the wall without touching her. 

Fear grips her tight as she searches his eyes. So maybe she was wrong about him and about how far she could push. 

“Keep away from my things,” he growls. “I’m not going to hurt you, but I might just leave you on Tortuga if you think you can take advantage of my hospitality. I don’t frequently offer women my quarters, and I’m beginning to regret it.”

His voice cuts and hisses. His accent becomes thicker and harder to understand, but his eyes maintain fury and it scares her a little. 

She blinks and they’re suddenly standing very close. His breaths are coming hard and fast and his eyes are trailing along her face, ultimately falling to her lips for a lingering second before he takes a step back.

_What was that?_  

“I’ll have Mister Smee bring you our financials. Maybe you could busy yourself with that instead of interfering with my things.”

He shoves some things into drawers and she straightens. “I thought pirates stole all of their goods.”

He chuckles darkly when he returns his gaze to her. “We’re not all that way. Our hauls are the extent of our piracy. Everything else we pay for.”

He smirks and his tongue flicks over his bottom lip. His gaze on her is rather dark before he glances over at his bed.

“I’m off hours at the moment, so if you’re not going to sleep, then you need to keep quiet. I haven’t slept in quite a while and I’m positive you wouldn’t like me when I’m deprived.”

The tone in his voice implies more than just sleep and she feels sick to her stomach at the look he’s giving her. It’s flirty and a touch sarcastic. She would like him a lot more if he weren’t like this. 

She doesn’t know how they’ll ever get along enough to persuade his crew that they’re _married_ , but maybe they won’t have to play too much. Maybe she’ll just hate him openly and he’ll work faster to get rid of her.

She couldn’t think of anything better than getting off of this ship and safe into the arms of her parents again. At least with them, she’d be able to have the upper hand over the captain and his goals.

“Fine. I'll… balance your finances." 

He grins, wiggling his brows. "Brilliant. I’ll get Smee to grab the books.”

Emma tilts her head to the side. “The books? You don’t do things electronically?”

Captain Jones smirks. “Some things need to be done the old fashioned way, Princess. Sometimes the computer gets it wrong. I like to know I’ve got it all straight.”

Emma would argue that a person could get it just as wrong, if not more, than a computer, but he already has headed into his bedroom.

She sits awkwardly on the sofa while he calls Smee on the intercom, and within ten minutes, the round man comes to the captain’s quarters. 

“Take them to the Princess,” she hears Hook mutter. “And lock the door on your way out. Can’t have her trying escape while I sleep.”

“Aye, Cap'n.”

Emma rolls her eyes. Why did it have to be pirates? Why did it have to be a handsome captain like Hook?


	5. Chapter 5

five

Hook waits for the rest of his crewmen to scatter as he stands at the end of the exit ramp.

Tortuga has never been his absolute favorite place to dock. It’s infamous for it’s crime, which really is no surprise seeing as all of the galaxy’s finest pirates and criminals all congregate here.

He’s lost a lot of his goods here because of it. Once, his entire ship had gone missing, but he’d won it back in a sword fight fueled by rum and the cheers of his men, who were just as angry as he was that they’d lost their home.

They’ve landed at the heart of Tortuga, in the proudest crime-infested city she has to offer. He scowls a little as he looks out into the fading twilight, at the rest of the shipyard that is covered in loud and rowdy street vendors and groups of men singing drinking songs.

Typically, he might be glad to be here. There are plenty of places he frequents, and God knows he needs a good drink or two about now. He’s got a headache bigger than anything all because of this woman he’s been catering to. 

Hook leaves the ship to Mister Smee as he goes back up the ramp. His first mate nods furiously and goes to stand at attention by the base of the ship.

Meanwhile, he heads up to his quarters, where the Princess is hopefully putting on the disguise he’d told her to.

He honestly doesn’t know what it is about her. She is her own woman and she hates being told what to do, which clashes directly with everything he stands for. Though he might not be one for bad form, she is stretching his limitations with every look and frustrating word that slips past those pretty lips of hers.

Perhaps it might be easier to loathe the princess if she weren’t so elegantly beautiful, even dressed in thick clothes that would probably look better on a barrel of rum.

When the door to his quarters opens, he steps into the room with a sigh, his hand resting on his belt buckle.

“Come now, Princess. We’ve got a meeting with my contact in twenty minutes and if we’re late, the further we’ll be from finding your parents.”

He finds himself staring at the princess as he swivels at the archway leading into the living space of his cabin.

She is standing in the middle of the room, her hair roped around her shoulder, the gown impossibly tight in every place it should be, and her cheeks flushed. She stares at him with wide eyes, as if unsure about her appearance, but he licks his lips, every thought turning to the way her breasts just barely fit the corset, spilling forward a little. 

He wriggles his brow approvingly.

“Well, now that’s much better,” he says, knowing full well she hates it. His eyes stick to her midriff and she wiggles a little with the dress, stretching it up even though it refuses.

“Why the hell do I have to wear this again?” she asks, snapping his eyes up to hers.

He chuckles. It would be foolish of him to think he doesn’t think her an attractive woman, but he hadn’t a clue just _how_  attractive until this moment.

“Talking like my kind of woman already, love. Come now, or we’ll be late.”

He turns without her, swallowing and focusing his thoughts on the mission ahead, and exits the room, standing outside of his quarters as his only acknowledgment of her accompanying him.

She scowls at him when she comes up to the door. “Just so you know, I refuse to be treated like some bar wench. No ogling or touching and I will _not_ be tolerant of your innuendo if it goes too far. I am a lady. I should be treated like one.” 

“Aye,” Hook agrees, nodding. “I never said you weren’t.”

Her face is red with frustration, her breath coming out in huffs. He can’t help but think that she’s quite adorable like this.

It’s been a long while since he’s had the company of such a spitfire, of such a strong independent woman. He likes her a bit too much for only just having met her.

She presses her lips together in a line and searches his eyes before he leans in a little and glances to the left of him.

“Follow me, Your Highness. We haven’t got all night.” 

She huffs and he chuckles, heading straight toward the lift. 

+++

Emma has never been to Tortuga, and she’s beginning to see why not.

The place is vile, at best, with men either cackling and singing or cheering on a full on brawl in the streets. The air is thick with alcohol and body odor, something she is used to, but doesn’t find enjoyable in the least.

She keeps close to Hook, following him as he leads her through the winding streets of the city built on a hill. She shutters when men look at her, but holds her own because Hook isn’t her guardian, he’s just helping her. There’s a difference.

“Are we close?” Emma dares ask after a while. “These shoes aren’t the most comfortable thing in the world.” 

They ache and are a little tight around her toes, making every step impossible.

He glances over at her and quirks a brow. “In due time, darling.” 

Emma sighs. “Fine.” 

He opens his mouth to speak, but is interrupted by a loud shout from across the street that sends both of their attentions to a thickly set man. He’s looking straight at her in a way that twists her belly and she wants to hide now more than ever. He smiles wildly at her, his teeth a crooked, decaying mess, and starts approaching them.

Hook steps in front of her, drawing his weapon that he’d had holstered at his hip. “No closer,” he warns.

The man falters in the middle of the street, but then laughs, shaking his head. “Who the hell are you?” 

The captain shakes his head. “The lady is not someone to be bought or won, so I suggest you _stay back_.”

The man only continues forward and Emma stiffens when she hears a click. 

He wouldn’t- he _couldn’t_ \- would he? He _is_ a pirate, and she doubts there are very many laws on this planet.

The man stops, his eyes widening. “The name’s Hook, _mate_ , perhaps you’ve heard of me. So you best thank your lucky stars _she’s_ with me tonight, otherwise this street would be covered in your entrails.” 

She winces at the mental image he’s painted and takes a breath to stable herself as the man scowls at them both. “Tortuga ain’t a place for womenfolk like that.” 

“Well, it’s a good thing she’s my wife, then, isn’t it? She’s already been claimed.” He looks around at the crowd that’s gathered to watch them. “Does everyone understand? She is not to be gawked upon. She is _mine_.” 

Emma’s heart flutters rapidly within her chest and she looks around, finding many men somewhat upset by her captain’s words.

She takes a shallow breath, having not been prepared to be called Hook’s wife, much less been claimed so proudly in the middle of the street with a couple dozen drunkards listening. 

Somehow it makes her feel safer, though, and even more so when Hook tucks his weapon away and reaches for her hand. He holds hers tightly, not looking at her as they walk away from the crowd. 

They walk like this for a while, until Hook stops at a door at the end of a building. The place is hidden away in darkness, and there are probably only four or five men wandering the alleyway it resides in. 

When Emma tries to open the door, he stops her with a gentle hand on her wrist. His eyes are equally as such, and it surprises her. 

“I should go first.”

Emma nods in agreement. He lingers for a second before turning to the door and pounding on it three times. 

The door opens up after a minute of listening to the yelling of excitement down the street mixed with thrumming music and catcalls. 

There’s an eye latch that pulls back with a squeak, and Emma can just make out a glow coming from inside before an eye presses against the latch.

“I’ve got a book to return.” Hook says lowly.

The man behind the door blinks once, lingering there for a beat, and for a second Emma doubts they’ll get inside.

The latch closes and the door swings open. It’s an old wooden door, and inside the place is full of men and women, in various states of drink and dress, laughing and talking. There’s music, a plucky sound that comes from a group she can just make out when she and Hook enter the room deep enough. The musicians are below the balcony, standing on a circular stage surrounded by tables and private suites off to the sides.

It’s a vast room, with side pockets and lights hanging high in the vaulted ceiling. It seems to have no end, which amuses her because the place is a hole in the wall.

“What are we doing here?” Emma asks, her voice a hushed whisper as she sides up next to her leader.

Hook raises an eyebrow. “Be patient, won’t you?”

Emma grumbles under her breath as they pass some women that give the captain a leering look, their hands caressing his arm as they smile and dance.

She watches as Hook brushes them off, and eventually, she figures out that they’re heading for the bar that’s practically hidden by the number of occupants seated around it.

Hook only has to tap a few men on their shoulder for them to get access to the barkeep, a man with brown hair and a friendly smile.

“Hook?” He grins wider, stepping close enough to be heard and seen. “I thought I’d be seeing you sooner, you bastard!”

His smile is wide and sweet, dimples in his cheeks. He wears a hunter green vest atop his shirt, his colors a stark contrast against what she’s been seeing in the streets.

It’s as if a part of the forest was dropped right in the middle of nowhere. In Tortuga. 

Hook chuckles along with the other man. “Hey, mate. Can we take this someplace private so we can talk?”

The man across the bar nods in the affirmative. "Yeah. Yeah, of course. Come with me. We can talk over a cuppa.”

“Sounds good,” Hook turns to her. “Come along, darling.”

Emma steps forward when Hook leads her to and they weave their way through the crowd of bar attendees until they reach a back door, the barkeeper unlocking it and allowing them entry with a pleasant grin.

Books are everywhere. In piles. On furniture. Lining the walls. There is a fireplace and there is a corner of the room dedicated to a collection of weapons, more specifically bows and arrows. It’s cozy, but she doubts anyone could ever get comfortable in this space. 

She bites her lip and she starts to wonder if this man will be any help at all or if Hook has brought her here to leave her behind.

A chill runs down her spine, but Hook already is walking in toward the archway that leads to another small room. 

She follows, because she doesn’t know what else to do. 

“So who’s this you brought with you?” The kind man asks.

Hook turns to her as she stands in the doorway. They’re in a tiny kitchen, and as she looks, she notices another room off of this one. The door is shut, so she can’t tell what it is. 

“Oh, Robin, this is Emma. Emma, my good friend Robin Hood.” Hook gestures between them with a smile.

Emma nods when Robin looks up at her. 

“Well, Emma, would you fancy a cup of tea?”

She gives Hook a side glance before nodding. “Yes. Thank you.”

Robin smiles as he hands them saucers and clasps his hands together. “Well, then, what’s your missing cargo look like?”

Hook takes a sip and Emma has a whiff of hers before joining him. “Two rectangular freezing units.”

Robin’s eyebrows shoot up into his hairline. He tilts his head, jaw hanging ajar. 

“Freezing units,” Hook nods in confirmation of Robin’s words. “Well, I haven’t seen anything of that sort come through here. But I’ll bet you’d like to see the Librarian about this.”

Hook sighs deeply, the glass in his hand twisting slightly. “Aye. If I could.” There’s hesitance in his tone, as if he would rather not see this _Librarian_. 

“Very well.” Robin sighs. He sets down his own cup after a sip.

Emma downs a big gulp and sets her cup on the countertop by Hook’s before following as Robin leads them through the closed door and down a narrow flight of stairs. 

Hook goes in front of her, behind Robin, and she cautiously presses her fingers to the wall, her toes screaming and her heels wobbling on the creaking wooden steps.

There isn’t much light and it feels as if they’re going nowhere after about fifty steps. She wonders where they could possibly be going. If someone lives down here, they’d have to be a mole. 

“She’ll not be pleased you’re here, Hook.”

“I know. But I’ve got no choice. Pan went behind my back and took them from me.”

Robin scoffs. “That git. Why do you do business with him still?”

Hook is quiet for a second. “I’m still under contract.”

They stop all of a sudden and Robin unlocks a door they’ve reached. 

“You still haven’t found it?” Robin asks, turning to Hook. “Bloody hell. I’m starting to think this is a fools errand.”

Hook shakes his head. “You and I both, mate.”

Robin gives Hook a sympathetic look before he turns back around and pushes the door open. It squeals and groans, the heaviness of it obvious as Robin grunts. 

The door opens up to a dimly lit hallway made entirely of wood planks. It is just a little wider than the narrow staircase and Emma has to use caution as she drops down to the floor next to Robin, who smiles softly at her. 

“We’ll have to speak another time, then, Milady. It’s nice that Hook’s found someone as lovely as yourself.”

Emma opens her mouth and shakes her head. “Wha-”

She glances down the hall, where Hook has gone to a door about thirty feet away. 

“It’s been a long time since he’s had a woman at his side. He sticks to himself usually.”

Emma’s heart squeezes. She feels bad, because Hook does fit that description, and the fact that Robin thinks she’s anything more than an acquaintance makes her swallow with unease. 

“Emma, are you coming?” Hook calls.

She spins on her heel and glances back at Robin. 

“This is where we part, Milady. I hope to see you again soon.”

Emma nods, not questioning him about the obvious: why won’t she be seeing him again? “Thank you for the tea.”

Emma takes a deep breath as she starts for Hook, not looking back when she hears the door bolt shut. 

Hook stands in front of a wooden door with intricate designs chiseled in it. She would marvel at the flowers and birds, but Hook steps forward and opens it. 

Immediately inside, there are books. Books in piles and on tables and when she steps inside, her jaw drops. 

The room is massive, even larger than the bar they’d been in just minutes before. There is a wide circular balcony that looks down at a ground floor of even more books, and all around, bookshelves upon bookshelves are stocked. 

She has never seen so many of them before in her life. 

As she stands at the balustrade looking down at the lower level, she notices a small spot in the middle of it all. Atop a red carpet sits a table and chair. In the chair sits a beautiful woman with brown hair that’s tied back in a blue bow that matches her dress. 

The Librarian looks up, smiling initially, until Emma feels Hook come alongside her. The smile fades into a furious scowl. 

“ _You_!” She stands, voice unexpectedly loud and echoing. “What are you doing here?”


	6. Chapter 6

six

Emma looks at Hook, her eyes wide with confusion. He smiles in a way she supposes is meant to be soothing, down at the librarian. 

“Belle! You look lovely!” He leans forward on the balustrade. “It’s been, what, two years? Three?”

Emma watches as Belle’s breaths deepen. “You have no business coming back here. I told you I didn’t want you to come back.”

Hook tilts his head, lifting his finger to scratch at the spot behind his ear. “Darling, it’s been three years. I’m horribly sorry for what happened. Let us come down and we’ll chat.”

Belle shakes her head vehemently. “No! You put your sword to my neck and stole my _best_ books! I’m not letting you come down here to do the same thing all over again!”

Emma narrows her eyes at Captain Jones, nudging him hard in the ribs with her elbow. He grunts, looking at her with an exasperated expression.  

“You _stole_ from her? How could you do that?”

He tilts his head cockily, smirking. “Pirate, love.”

He really is impossible sometimes. Emma scoffs and then turns to the librarian. “Belle, my name is-”

“Belle, this is Emma,” Hook cuts her off, giving her a warning look. Emma rolls her eyes at him, biting at her inner lower lip to keep from ruining their play, whatever it might be. “We’re here in search of two missing frozen container units that were unjustly stolen from my ship.”

Belle looks at them warily. “And who is _Emma_? Is she a pirate too? Or perhaps a mercenary?”

“What?” Emma all but shouts. “No!”

Hook chuckles and it echoes throughout the room. He steps a little closer to her. His eyes are alight with scheming and it would concern her, but she’s been around him long enough to know that almost everything he does has some sort of _scheming_ behind it.

“Emma is my wife.” He says on a sigh. “She’s cleaned me up, haven’t you, my heart?”

The captain looks at Emma and she feels her heart skipping a few beats at the feeling of his palm pressed against the small of her back.

She manages a playful smile, letting herself adjust to the impromptu change in plans. They hadn’t discussed what they would be doing here at all, and it’s a wonder that they’re somehow in tune with each other. 

“Mhmm,” she hums happily. “Yes I have, my darling.”

He smiles at that, his arms wrapping around her waist a little tighter. 

He searches her eyes and then trails his along her face, as if she were under a microscope being inspected. 

She feels a little uncomfortable, standing this close to him. But there’s something electrifying about the proximity at the same time, even if they’re putting on a show for Belle.

He smells like musk and cologne, and a hint of coffee. It isn’t entirely unpleasant, though Emma has a hard time feeling comfortable with him after their constant arguing and plays for control over the predicament they’ve found themselves in.

“Well, then I guess I’ll help you. I’ve always had a soft spot for love stories like yours must be.”

Her voice is happy and warm and something in her words makes Emma’s breath hitch.

Maybe he’s getting closer to her, or maybe she is to him, because all of a sudden she feels his breath against her skin and she sees something in his eyes akin to curiosity. Curiosity for what, she isn’t sure, because she won’t give him the luxury of trying anything.

He is a pirate and she is a princess. Or, she’s supposed to be a princess. She’s still kind of an outsider to the idea, used to living for herself and protecting every piece of her in fears of getting destroyed by Regina if she were to be angered in just the right way.

This _thing_  with Hook is a curious thing. He saved her, she thinks, from whatever fate an open freezing container can do with no immediate attention.

He’s a pirate, but he’s also trying to help her, for a reward, she’s sure, but he’s still doing it. He’s trying to help her get her parents back, to risk getting arrested because he has her on his ship, and he’s never really considered doing the _pirate-y_  thing and dropping her on some deserted planet somewhere to die. He’s keeping her alive. He’s protecting her. 

It scares her that he would be this way, whether it’s out of fear of the unknown, or fear of being let down and rejected, it scares her. She can’t wait until she is finally reunited with her parents and brought home. Then all of this weight she feels in her chest will finally be lifted and she might actually be able to breathe again.

Emma breaks apart from Captain Jones as fast as she can without looking like she can’t stand him and smiles as she watches Belle hit a few buttons on a tablet she pulls off of the desk. 

A staircase unfurls from the balustrade in front of her and she looks back at Hook to let him lead. 

+++

Hook smiles at Belle as he stands in front of her.

He’s playing everything close to the chest because she knows just about every going on in the galaxy. She’s probably the smartest person he’s ever met, too, so it wouldn’t surprise him if she already knew Emma’s true identity. 

“Now that’s more like it,” He smiles wide. Belle tilts her head to the side in exasperation and he only smirks more. “So, my freezing container units. They left Neverland just yesterday. Can you tell me where they might be?”

Belle stares at him for a moment before turning her attention to Emma beside him.

“I would first like to welcome your wife to my library, Hook,” Belle smiles warmly. “My library is the single largest in the galaxy. It’s home to well over two million books, of all varieties and languages. I’ve been collecting them for over ten years. I’m just trying to protect this universe’s greatest treasure in a place where books have become illegal.”

Emma is looking all around as Belle gives her welcome speech. She finally smiles, but nudges him in the arm. 

“Why haven’t you brought me here before? You know I love reading.”

He can’t help but think she’s reprimanding him for the day prior on his ship, when he caught her snooping through his desk. 

He stretches a thin smile at her. "Well, we’ve been preoccupied with other far more enjoyable activities, now, haven’t we, Sweetheart?”

Her eyes go wide and she gapes at him for a moment before smacking him again. She grits her teeth. “Not okay.”

Hook chuckles, amused by her ability to hold to herself, and then turns to Belle. “Apologies, lass. Would you mind helping me now that you’ve run through your speech?” 

Belle sighs and folds her arms to her chest. “It’s not a speech. I saw the way her eyes lit up when she walked into my library. I’m not going to be rude and not introduce myself to your wife.” Belle turns to Emma, smiling gently. “Come with me, Emma, I want to show you my favorite room. _Then_  we’ll find those stolen goods.” 

Emma smiles, a bit smugly if he knows any better, and he rolls his eyes a bit as the women walk alongside each other toward the back halls.

He follows at a slight distance, enough that he can just barely make out their talking. 

For a moment, he considers the task at hand for what it is. He’d like to blame his brother and the years in the academy for instilling the importance of _good form_  into his skull so thickly that he’s unable to refuse the urge, or the automatic way his mind refused to allow Emma to die in her freezing container. Of course, it could have been the memories from the past that turned him this way that keeps him unable to tell her no.

His chest heaves with the memories, flashing back in again like they have so much in these past few days. As much as he wants to let his hatred for who took his brother from him overwhelm him, there’s been a shift he’s noticed in his thinking. 

He can’t be the calculated and cruel pirate to Emma, not entirely. She’s wanted goods. He’s just keeping her safe and alive long enough to get rid of her. It isn’t what he would’ve done had she been brought aboard his ship a few years ago, hell, even a few months ago he would have left her to rot at port somewhere.

Being caught with a missing princess is the most danger he’s tempted in a long time, and he would be lying if he said it didn’t thrill him just a little bit knowing that at any moment _the Jolly_ could be stopped and searched.

A few years of searching and coming up empty has run him dry. Emma is the water to his desert, and he’d be damned if he didn’t soak her up for all she’s worth. 

“So how long have you been married?” Belle asks as she whisks them in past large golden doors.

His eyes flit around the room. It is a sitting room, of sorts. There are tall bookshelves lining each side of the room, and there is a winding staircase in the center of it all, leading up to a window with stained glass.

He presumes it might look better if it were day, but the glow of the moon provides a gentle light in addition to the grand chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

“Oh, it’s been four months now,” Emma says with a wistful sigh. “He proposed the night we met, actually.” 

“ _Really_?” Belle asks, her tone incredulous. She glances back at him as they stop under the bright light of the chandelier. Soft cushioned chairs and a sofa are arranged around a table where they stand. 

Hook smiles. “Aye. Never met a woman so strong willed and independent before in my life. She drew me right in. I knew I couldn’t let her get away from me.” 

His eyes are on Emma now, soaking her in. She really is beautiful, and he knows she isn’t scared of him. She’s one of the few people who aren’t.

Belle even knows that any moment he could pull out his blaster and destroy every last bit of her library. Emma, on the other hand, is incredibly brave and she knows exactly where she stands.

“What a story,” Belle swoons. “I’ll have to ask you more about it when you visit next.” Emma smiles softly. “This is my personal collection. Books I’d never let anyone have or look at.” 

Emma’s jaw drops as she looks around. “All of these are _yours_?” 

“Yes,” Belle giggles. “I love to read.” 

Emma’s wonder shines in the emerald of her eyes and she smiles out of disbelief at the librarian. “Wow. I’ve never seen so many books in my entire life.” 

“Would you like to take one? It must get awfully boring flying around in a pirate ship.” 

Emma laughs, a sweet sound, and she eyes him slightly. Again, he feels like this is for his aggression about her getting into his things. He rolls his eyes, but doesn’t conceal the smile that pinches at his lips.

“I would love a book.” Emma says simply. Belle grins.

“Then have a look around. Anything you like, you can take. I’ve read just about everything in this room two or three times. As much as I’d miss some of them, I know you’ll keep good care of whatever you take until we can meet again.” 

Emma looks touched, clutching a hand to her chest before Belle shows her to a bookcase and tells her that she’ll be in the other room if she needs anything. 

“Now, Captain,” Belle addresses him, her tone a little angry. “I will help _you_.” Belle brushes past him and he sighs, turning to follow her as she scuttles into the main room. “But you need to promise me you won’t let her get caught.” 

She turns to him and his face falls.

“How did you know?” 

Belle tilts her head at him. “I know just about everything, Hook.”

He nods, sighing. “Aye. I know.”

Belle’s jaw tightens and she tosses a hand toward the room they’d just left. “She isn’t goods to be traded for units, I hope you understand that. She is a person. A lovely, kind, innocent  _person_.” 

Hook gives Belle a look of exhaustion. “I know she is. I haven’t dropped her in the middle of deep space, now have I?”

Belle’s eyes are pointed. “She’s worth a lot more than the two million units the police will give for her return. And if you’re caught, it’ll be life, you know.”

He nods. Of course he knows that. It’s been on the forefront of his mind since Smee showed him that they’d opened up the container in his ship’s hold.

The librarian sighs and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “Well, then let’s go find her parents, shall we?” 


	7. Chapter 7

seven

In a room off of the main library, there is a computer. It stretches across a wall while its controls are held in Belle’s hand in the form of her tablet. Hook watches the screen as she searches for Neverland’s sales over the past day, using hacking techniques to break into Pan’s system. 

She locates what appear to be his missing units, described as metal bins, and after a few moments of decoding nonsense on the screen, she smiles at him.

“Well, we have a name.” He quirks a brow, waiting for her to tell him. “Your cargo was loaded onto Blackbeard’s ship.”

“Blackbeard?” Hook grimaces, confused. “I didn’t see his ship or crew there.”

Belle shrugs. “Well, that’s what Pan’s system tells me. Unless you think he’d be smart enough to enter the wrong information on purpose-”

Hook grits his teeth, fingers curling into a fist. “No, that boy knew exactly what he was doing.” He looks away from the screen and to Belle. “Where is Blackbeard now?”

Belle sucks at her lower lip as she starts a search. “It looks as if he’s heading toward the Line. He stopped off at the Grotto a few hours ago. But I wouldn’t trust even my computer. Blackbeard has a mind of his own.”

Hook groans. “Bugger.” He presses his thumb and forefinger to the bridge of his nose, leaning back as he considers his next move. “Well, are we certain it was him that took them? I can’t believe Blackbeard was at Neverland. His ship would’ve stuck out like a sore thumb.”

The librarian shrugs, shaking her head. “I don’t know what to tell you. Pan’s database says Blackbeard bought your cargo.” 

He scratches at the back of his head, taking in a deep breath. “Then I guess it’s to the Line for us.”

Belle hits a button on her tablet and sets it down on the table, regarding him with a soft expression.

“What you’re doing is very honorable, Hook. I don’t know why you’ve decided to help Emma, but I hope that you don’t lose sight of the overall picture here.” Belle studies his face for a thoughtful moment. “Your brother would be proud of you.” 

Hook grits his teeth, stiffening at the mention. “Don’t tell me what he would think,” he growls. “You didn’t know him.” 

He turns on his heels and storms out of the side room back out toward the main one, his coat flapping behind him violently. “Emma! We’re leaving!” 

He stands in the center of the library for maybe ten seconds when Emma comes out of the room. He tilts his head to the side, toward the tunnel that will take them above ground.

“Come along. We don’t have much time. I want to be off of this godforsaken planet before dawn.” 

+++

She barely gets to thank Belle due to Hook’s insistence that they leave. The librarian bears it kindly, wrapping her up in a warm hug, something she finds comforting and a reminder of her mother.

“Stay with him, Emma. He’ll keep you safe.”

Emma meets her eyes and finds them serious and true. If Belle can find it in her to believe that Hook is going to keep her safe, then she should probably trust her. Emma nods, smiling just a little before turning toward Hook.

He’s standing beside her, his jaw clenched and his eyes a storm. It’s obvious to her that whatever conversation he’d just had with Belle wasn’t necessarily a good one. The idea that she might not see her parents again makes her stomach clench anxiously.

Hook takes her selected book and tucks it into a bag hanging from his shoulder before quickly ushering her through a door.

They end up walking through an underground tunnel, lit poorly by the little bulbs draped along the ceiling of it.

She follows Captain Jones, whose face had been pained and almost angry when she’d met his eyes again back in the library. She wonders why he’d changed so suddenly. Before, he’d been intolerable, but at least he hadn’t been furious and storming around like he is now.

Emma rolls her eyes a little at the thought. For a pirate, he certainly is dramatic.

“So where are my parents?” she asks.

He doesn’t answer immediately, glancing over his shoulder at her. “An enemy of mine bought them off of Pan back at Neverland. We’ve got to try and track him down, but if he’s going to the Line, we might never see him again.” 

Her heart stutters. “What?” 

Hook shakes his head. “The Line is sort of a mystery,” he tells her, shrugging and sighing. She meets his eyes as he looks back at her again, stopping to face her. “People have gone missing there. Sometimes people show up there after years of travel.” He sighs. “But if that’s where Blackbeard is heading, then we haven’t got much choice. I’ve heard rumors that the Line is a black hole, and if that’s the case, we’d be in for something spectacular, aye?”

Emma’s brows pinch inward, frustration bubbling up. “But that’s- why would he bring my parents there? Why would this Blackbeard _want_ them?” 

Captain Jones shakes his head again. “I’m not sure. The last time we crossed paths, it wasn’t entirely pleasant. Perhaps he and Pan came up with this scheme to get back at me.” 

It doesn’t sit well in her heart. Emma closes her eyes as she tilts her head down. “We need to find them.” 

“We will,” Hook says firmly. “He’s only just passed the Grotto. It’ll be a few days yet. My ship’s the fastest in the galaxy. Don’t you fear.” 

She looks up at him again and manages a smile. “Okay.”

He smiles in return before he starts walking again. 

Emma’s hesitance toward the captain and his plans for her is still very real. The fact that he’s a pirate and she’s a princess- it doesn’t help matters. And it’s been crawling along her spine ever since she found out where she’d woken up. 

“Why are you helping me? Shouldn’t you want to trade me off for whatever I’m worth?”

Hook falters slightly, but keeps walking straight ahead.

“Still a pirate, love,” he announces, and she imagines he’s smiling, can see the little crinkle by his eye. “I know your parents would be willing to pay me whatever I ask for in return for the three of you getting home safely.”

Emma stares at the back of his head and stops walking, causing him to turn around, his brow furrowed.

“What?”

She shakes her head. “What makes you think we have money?”

Hook smirks, pressing his hand against his belt buckle as he sways closer to her. “It’s not money I’m after, darling. Not necessarily. You see, I’ve been on the hunt for something for a very long time and I could use help getting it.”

She searches his eyes. “So you just want information.”

He tilts his head. “More or less. I’ve got reason to believe your parents will be able to help.”

Emma studies him to see if he’s lying, finding herself unable to read him very well. “Is there anything else you want?”

He chuckles. “Well, darling, there are a lot of things I _want_ ,” Hook’s eyes fall to her cleavage and she sighs, folding her arms over them so he has to look up. He smirks flirtatiously, flicking his tongue over his lower lip before he turns around again. “Doesn’t mean it’ll pan out the way I’d like.” 

Emma rolls her eyes, but takes solace in the fact that while he might be in this for his own selfish reasons, he isn’t about to turn against her. “Belle knew who I was, didn’t she?” 

“Hm?” Hook glances back with eyebrows lifted.

“She knew who I was.” 

He’s silent, the only noise being the crunch of their shoes against the rocks and dirt of the tunnel. “Aye. She told me when we went off to find your parents.” 

She hums. “So when we get back onto your ship, you’re going to let me walk around and do things, right?” 

“I believe that was our agreement,” 

Emma nods, slowing to a stop when he does. Looking just past him, she sees a ladder on the wall.

He looks up, then back at her. “This should land us by the tavern near the shipping yard. We’re going to go do some investigating, so stay by me and don’t… don’t touch anything.” 

She takes in a soft breath and bobs her head at him. “Okay.” 

+++

The Tortuga air smells of smoke and drunkenness when he pulls up out of the hole in the ground. He leans over the tunnel and offers his hand to Emma, who takes it.

Her hand is small in his, but her grip is as firm as a sailor. He has to admire that in her.

She crinkles her nose at the smell and he smirks a little as she adjusts her dress now that she’s on solid ground. “Come on, love, it’s just this way.” 

Emma follows his lead through the side streets and up the main toward the shipyard. There’s a lot of noise, now that it’s past dark. Music is blaring from one of the buildings and he can hear distinct conversations fading in and out as they walk past them. Laughter booms and drunken men stumble in the streets with their friends.

He goes to the tavern on the corner and enters it with his head held high, the princess on his heels.

“Oi!” a man calls, “What the hell is Captain Hook doing showing his face around Tortuga?”

“Bugger off, mate. I’m not here for you.” He calls back, praying that he won’t get into another brawl here, especially with the princess at his side.

Hook grits his teeth as he searches the crowd of barbarians, looking for one in particular and discovering the man huddled in the corner, a mug in his hand.

He heads toward the table and ignores the glares and shoves he receives from men. He’s on a mission and he’s not going to let his time here be wrought with pithy arguments.

He doesn’t bother keeping an eye on Emma, knowing she’s close enough to him that she won’t lose him, and instead sets his focus on the man in the corner.

He pulls on a thin smile as he comes to a stop, “Scarlet! Good to see you, mate.”

Will Scarlet looks up at him with a grimace, acting nonchalant as he continues to sip at his drink. “What do you want, Hook? Last time I saw you, you were head first in a puddle of mud.”

Hook leans over the table and gets in close, lowering his voice so he’s not overheard somehow in the bar noise. “I’m looking for Blackbeard. Where is he heading?”

The man at the table stares up at him, holding his jaw open while a little smirk fills his lips.

“Don’t rightly know,” Scarlet says after a moment of consideration, lifting his mug to his lips for a drink.

Hook reaches into his satchel for the bag of coins, dropping them on the table. “Where is Blackbeard heading?”

Scarlet straightens up, grabs the coins and, after a brief check, stowing them in his jacket.

“He’s got business near the Line. I’ve heard he’s meeting up with someone, but one can never be certain where dark magic is concerned.”

Hook rolls his eyes and adds another bag of coins to the table.

The man smiles in appreciation, giving this bag of coins a similar treatment to the first, stuffing them into his jacket as he speaks, “The Evil Queen herself’s been rumored to have been holed up by the Line for a while now. Last I heard that’s where Blackbeard was going. He’s got some business to settle.”

Hook searches Scarlet’s eyes and nods, leaning back upright. “And where’d you get your intel this time, thief?”

“A buddy o’mine’s been stowing away with Blackbeard for a month. He’s tryin’a find me something.”

Hook barely has a chance to nod when he realizes that Emma is no longer at his side. In fact, she’s nowhere to be seen. 

He whips his head around and his heart rate quickens. If he loses her, he’s not necessarily a dead man, seeing as she’s missing and wanted, but he did keep his word and allowing anyone else to take her off of the planet would only cause him to blame himself for whatever these barbarians could do to her.

“Bloody hell,” he mutters. He starts back for the door, satisfied with the information he’s received from Scarlet, and searches desperately for the princess, shoving people out of his way without any qualms. 

She’s not inside the bar, as far as he can tell, and he’s fairly certain he could tell- her hair is the brightest light he’s seen in a long time.

Once outside again, he finds a group of men huddled around in a circle- _Emma_.

He starts for the group and curses under his breath as he realizes that one of the men is the drunkard that had catcalled for her earlier in the evening, still clearly drunk off of his arse.

Hook catches a glimpse of the princess when a man takes a step away from her and he about loses his calm.

She’s unable to scream due to a hand over her mouth but he knows she would if she could. 

“Hey! Get away from her! Get away!” Hook bellows loudly, making the men all turn toward him. He barely meets Emma’s eyes, panicked and wide, before addressing the man with his hand on her mouth. “Get your bloody hands off of her. She doesn’t want you touching her.”

His grimy hand falls away and Emma gasps for air, something that makes Hook somehow angrier. 

“What do you know about what she wants when she came willingly?” The rotund man from earlier shakes his head, downs the last of his drink, and throws the glass to the ground so it shatters. 

Hook eyes him warily, then glances over at Emma. “Darling, get behind me.” 

She does, after a few moments, her body warm at his side for a second, and he draws his phaser, making her step to the side.  

“Oooh, a phaser! I’m so scared.” The man chuckles. “ _Please_. Just give me the wench. We both know she ain’t yours.” 

Hook tilts his head to the side, flicking his tongue over his lips. “I assure you, she is more mine than she will ever be yours.” He sets his finger over the trigger. “Walk away now. I will not negotiate with you over this. She isn’t yours to have.” 

The man raises his eyebrows in questioning. “Well, then maybe she’s _his_.” 

Hook furrows his brows, then whirls around, eyes immediately widening at the sight of Emma being dragged away by a man who has his hand over her mouth.

He is fast to shoot the man in the leg, sending him fumbling back onto the ground, Emma still in his hold.

She squeaks and her limbs flail as she tries to get free. 

The man’s hold on her tightens and Hook angrily makes his way up to the man, pointing the phaser straight toward the space between his eyes. “Let go or you die.” 

The man on the ground narrows his eyes at him and does nothing, making Hook give him a look, gritting his teeth. “You’re an idiot if you think I’m fooling you.” 

Hook blasts the man’s shoulder and he lets out a yell, his arms releasing Emma completely.

It’s only then that he realizes that she’d been held back with a hand on her neck, choking her. Bile rises up his throat, a sick feeling pressing against his chest. He pulls Emma to her feet, barely helping her get out of his line of vision, before he leans over the man. 

“You scum.” He spits and then fires his weapon into the man’s hand without any stalling. The man screams, body flinching upward. “You’ll never touch a woman like that again. Do you understand?” 

He groans and stares at him with fear in his eyes. Hook points the phaser at his other hand. “Answer me or you lose both hands, and trust me- you need at least one.”

“Yes!” 

Hook whirls back around, shoving his phaser into its holster at his side before grabbing Emma’s hand and marching her straight through the parting sea of gathered men.

The noise has sufficiently died down and men all avoid him, clearly having taken his actions as a threat. _Good._

From the corner of his vision, he can tell Emma’s shocked, maybe crying, and it makes him even more furious than before.

It was his fault, after all, that they had to come here to find where her parents are.

“Davis!” he booms to the man standing in the front of the gathered. “Gather everyone up. We leave _now_.” 

“Aye, Captain!” Davis hurries off, calling out for Hook’s men as he goes into a building. 

He doesn’t speak with Emma or look at her until they’ve boarded _The Jolly_.

He brings her straight to his quarters after he tells Smee that they’ll be taking off, and he sits her down on his bed, worry and remorse finally settling in. 

He slings his bag down on the bed beside her and stands in front of her, kneeling down so he can meet her fearful eyes.

“I am so sorry,” he tells her. He trails his eyes over her face, the pain settling in his gut over what happened only worsening at the sight of the tear trails sliding down her cheeks. He lifts his hand and wipes at them, her eyes shutting at his touch. Her breath comes out in a stuttered sigh. “Are you hurt? Did they hurt you?” 

She shakes her head and his knuckles leave her soft cheek, dropping to his side. “One of them touched me,” she whispers.

Her words make his eyes slide shut. This whole thing could’ve been avoided if he’d been more attentive to her back there. Or if he had insisted she stay aboard the ship.

His hand curls into an angry fist. If he could, he would go back and finish the job.

He swallows and cups her cheek again. Her eyes open and she sniffles, her lower lip wobbling just so. Her eyes are glistening with tears, making them brighter than ever.

“You’re safe now,” he promises. “I won’t let anyone do that to you again.” 

Emma doesn’t seem to buy what he’s telling her, looking away from him and forcing his hand away.

“Can I change into something more comfortable? I feel… I…” She looks at him and he nods, rising to his feet slowly.

“Of course. You know where the dresser is. I’ll just… go to the bridge.” 

She stares at him for a few seconds and he feels as if he can’t leave quite yet, so he stands still.

“Thank you, Hook. You didn’t have to do any of that, but you did.” 

Hook pulls on a weak smile, not wanting to accept her thanks for what had to be done. “Of course I did, love.”

He takes a step back, lingering for but a moment longer before he turns away and leaves her alone.


	8. Chapter 8

eight

She can’t stop thinking.

She feels dirty and sick and no amount of soap on her skin helps the memory that a man tried to strangle her, tried to take her captive, and had touched her like she was his for the taking.

As if being stuck on a pirate ship without her parents wasn’t enough.

Emma sits on Hook’s bed, wrapped up in some baggy clothes that are more for comfort than appeal. She has Belle’s book in her hands, and she’s been trying to read it, to find some escape from this reality that she’s stuck in. 

She hasn’t been able to get off of page one. The words are all harsh as her eyes meet them, and the sentences are dull with little meaning as she manages to get through them.

With a loud sigh, she slams the book shut and drops it down on the bed beside her. She squeezes her eyes shut and presses her hands over her face, the soft fabric of the sweatshirt’s sleeves gentle against her skin.

The ship has been moving away from port for about ten minutes, and she’s grateful for that, because at least it means that they’re closer to finding her parents and getting her home. 

She focuses her thoughts on that. On her parents. On her father’s smile. On her mother’s singing. She focuses on the feeling of their arms around her, on the memories she has of laughter and joy. It gives her relief for a few minutes, a swelling of peace filling her chest. 

Until she remembers that they might not ever get found.

Emma stands and walks out into the living area, pacing around while she nervously plays with her long strands of hair against her shoulder, twirling the pieces together into a messy braid while she stands at the windows.

The door opens with a hiss, but Emma doesn’t turn to see who it is. She’s stuck in place, in thought, and if she looked, she wouldn’t know what to do or say.

After a few quiet moments, she hears the bed creak, then the sound of what she assumes is boots, hits the floor. The bed creaks again and her eyes shut when she senses his presence alongside her.

“We’re heading for the Line now,” his voice is gentle. Emma looks at him and nods. His eyes are sad and blue, _so_  blue, and she knows he feels terrible about what happened, even if it really wasn’t much. She probably could have gotten away on her own.

Except she really couldn’t. And it was scary. And the man hadn’t been gentle. He smelt of rum and sweat and everything awful in the world, and his hands were rough and angry. He wasn’t warm like her father and he wasn’t gentle like Bae or Walsh or Graham. 

A chill runs across her arms and she takes a shaky breath. 

“You’re safe now,” he repeats his words from before.

Emma manages a smile, though tears prickle at her eyes and she starts breathing in gasps. 

“I know.” 

He hasn’t sent her out to die in deep space. He’s protecting her and bringing her to find her parents. Of course she’s safe. 

Hook frowns. “Emma,” 

He doesn’t say anything else- just her name. It echoes in her mind, the way the end of her name clips with his accent. He stares at her sadly, probably not knowing what else to do, and she just stares right back.

“If I’m not strong enough to fight a man like that off and forget it, then I’m not strong enough to lose my parents,” she informs him. “So you have to promise me that you’re not going to give up on finding them. I need them.” 

His brows dip determinedly. “Of course not.” 

Emma takes a soft breath. “I’m afraid. I was just… before I was frozen, I was a slave, working the fields, cleaning rooms, you name it, I did it. And until a few days ago, I had no idea that I was a princess. I-“ She stops herself, stepping back and threading her fingers through her hair, tearing the braid apart. “If my parents are lost, that means I’ll have to take over for them, right? I don’t know how any of this works! I don’t know who to talk to, I don’t know where to go!” She starts pacing around, her words flying out in a worried babble, “I mean, I woke up and _nothing_ was like it was _supposed_ to be! I’m on a freaking pirate ship and my parents are nowhere to be found!“

Emma collapses down onto the couch and buries her head in her hands, her breaths coming short and fast. “I’m alone and I’m afraid I’m going to lose everything I have.” 

Her words come out in a choked sob, her tears flooding free as the lump lodged in her throat tightens. She shakes and trembles, her body aching and moaning. This has been a long time coming, she thinks. She needs this.

She doesn’t know how long she sits there shaking and weeping and weak, but eventually she feels a warm hand against her back. She looks up briefly and meets Hook’s eyes through a blur of tears. He seems to sympathize with her, oddly enough, and she lunges for him, surprising even herself as she buries her face into his neck.

His arms come around her, though, and she finds it easier to let it all out with his warmth enveloping her. His fingers swirl in soothing patterns against her back as she adjusts so she’s sitting on his lap, her legs draped over his side. Her arms go around his neck and she rests her forehead and cheek in the crook of his shoulder. 

“It’s alright,” he murmurs, “it’s alright.” 

She chokes and sobs some more, and while he might be a pirate, he is awfully gentle right now. He begins to sway, rocking her a bit in his hold like a mother to her child.

For a moment, she feels like she’s at home again, sitting on her father’s lap while he soothes her fears with tenderness and warmth. He is better than that man in the street, with his hand on her throat and his palm against her chest. He is _much_ better than him.

Eventually the tears stop and her breathing returns to normal. It’s comfortable resting in Hook’s arms, so she doesn’t make any motion to get freed from him, not when he’s pretty much the only thing that’s holding her all together at the moment.

“I was eighteen when my brother passed,” he tells her, his voice soft and cracking. “I didn’t have anyone either. My father abandoned me when I was seven or so and my mum passed when I was a babe.”

Then, he’s quiet. 

Somehow, it helps. Hook seems to have gotten through his losses, and while he may have handled it in a less than pleasant manner, he’s making a living and he’s… _happy_. She thinks. 

“I’m sorry,” she tells him, still not moving from her spot. He shrugs a little, shaking his head a tiny bit.

“It’s in the past,” he mumbles. 

For a few more minutes they sit there, tangled up and quiet. 

“I’m tired. Can I sleep in your bed tonight?” Emma feels him stiffen and she pulls herself upright, dropping her hands as he drops his. He looks a little confused and conflicted. “I know I didn’t want to before, but your couch was kind of… uncomfortable.” 

A smile breaks out on his face and she can’t help but laugh a little with him. “Alright. So long as you don’t kick me.” 

Emma smiles again, the edges of her lips curling sweetly. “Deal.” 

+++

When Hook wakes up, his eyes immediately adjust to the sight of Emma lying beside him. A tiny smile fills his lips as he studies her sleeping form.

She is peaceful, her chest pressed against his bed while her cheek rests on his pillow, her hair a huge mess of blonde curls draping all around. She is close enough that he can reach out and adjust some of the hair that’s fallen into her face, pushing it back around her shoulder.

He hasn’t had a woman in his bed in quite a long time for just _sleep_ , and he can’t help but appreciate the fact that he’s willed himself to stay proper around his princess. She may be his temporary passenger, but he’s already laid a lot on the line for her. He’s not about to screw it up with any innuendo that might push her away. He already knows she doesn’t appreciate it, and after what happened last night, he realizes that his chances with her in anything but a platonic sense are slim. 

Though, that doesn’t stop him from rolling onto his back and recollecting the way she’d felt in his arms as she shook and cried.

He’d felt awful for her, and knew just what she was feeling. He’d been through a similar grieving process after Liam had passed, and while Emma’s parents weren’t quite gone, they both know that the chances of finding them in one piece are becoming less and less as more time passes. 

She stretches a little in her sleep, her toes brushing up against his calf.

He tosses his head to the side to look at her as she continues her actions, her face contorting slightly before her eyes flutter open. 

After a moment, a smile fills her cheeks and she lets out a sigh. “Good morning, Captain.” 

He turns onto his side to face her, his body just a little closer this way. “Good morning, Princess.” He smiles just a little as he scans over her features. “How did you sleep?” 

Emma sighs again, shaking her head a little. “Much better. Thank you.” Her voice cracks and she clears her throat, pressing her body up so she can turn to face him on her side. 

She is beautiful. Even with red lines on her cheek and her hair knotted and wild, he can’t help the way his heart races at the sheer sight of her at the moment.

Emma bites at her lip and frowns a little, her face becoming serious. “I never… thanked you for last night. You… I…” 

He shakes his head.

“No need,” he says softly. “I understand.” 

Emma’s face softens, a small smile at her lips. He smiles in return, and for a while, they stay there like that. He doesn’t know what to say, if he should say anything, and she doesn’t seem to know either. 

“Would you like a tour of the ship today?” 

Emma’s smile widens and she laughs a little. “Yes.” 

Things have changed between them. Where before he’d seen her as a stop before he got to his goal, the piece he’s been looking for for so many years, now they’re kindred spirits, of a sort.

They’ve got similar fears. She is more real to him now than she had been before. He’s seen her at her absolute weakest state, at her most vulnerable, and she’d bore it all to _him_. He hasn’t felt this way about anyone, ever, and it’s starting to make him think this is much more than it appears to be on the surface: a pirate working to get his reward and a princess trying to get home.

“Good,” he tells her. “I’ll have Smee prepare you something to eat. I should go check on things.” 

Emma nods. “Okay.” 

He takes a good long look at her before he slides out of his bed. He calls for Smee on the communicator and has him bring up something for Emma before he goes to dress and ready himself for the day. He usually is up by now, sitting at his desk with the latest reports from the crew and information about the routes at hand, a cup of coffee or tea in his hand.

Last night had been a long ride. Most of his crew had gotten sufficiently drunk, so he, Smee, and Davis, who was probably a little more than tipsy, had to set the Jolly onto it’s current trajectory leading toward Blackbeard, and, hopefully, Emma’s parents. 

When he exits his bathroom, he finds that Emma is standing in the living area facing the windows, a blanket draped around her shoulders. He smiles softly at the sight of her; the light of the stars twinkling brightens her up as they zip past them and she’s glowing like she is one.

He doubts that Emma would want him in the way he’s starting to realize he might want her. That’s enough for him to quit staring, to sit on his bed and press his feet into his boots.

The door opens after he allows it to and Smee enters with a big smile, happy as per his usual demeanor.

“Morning, Cap’n.” He holds out the tray of food in an unasked question.

Hook points into the living area. “She’s in there.”

His first mate bobs his head before sauntering into the room.

“Good morning, Miss. I’ve brought you something to eat.”

Hook stands to watch as Emma smiles at the man, walking with grace toward the couch and sitting while Smee explains what he’s brought up for her. 

Smee settles the tray into her lap and she meets his eyes with a playful expression. He smiles in return, lifting his eyebrows, then tilting his head to the side as if to tell her he’s going to be off. She nods slightly in understanding.

He has to rip himself away from them, curling his fingers into a fist as he reminds himself again that Emma was not brought on board for this purpose.

She was cargo that has turned into a mission to bring her home. She isn’t going to be here forever. She has a life and a role in that life. She’s _royalty_. Royalty that may have a connection to the death of Liam.

He locks his jaw as he steps onto the bridge. 

This thing with Emma shouldn’t go anywhere. And it won’t. It’s all in his head. 


	9. Chapter 9

nine

She can’t stop smiling.

It’s ridiculous and silly and almost childish, but she can’t stop. She keeps thinking about Hook and the way things between them have shifted. She keeps picturing his smile and his eyes. She keeps remembering the way he’d looked at her when she woke up, like she was the sun. And how he’d soothed her the night before with his quiet muttering and his arms so tight and warm around her.

She dresses and brushes out the knots in her hair while she ponders the change in their relationship. It isn’t like her to be so wound up about a man, so she stops to take a few mind-clearing breaths.

Hook is a pirate with a temper. He is only helping her because she has something he wants.

But she has a temper, too. And she has no choice but to accept his help.

She whines at the thoughts, dropping the comb into her lap.

Emma knows she shouldn’t feel like this about him. He’s not exactly the kind of man her parents would want her to love. He’s vile and angry. But he’s also tender and sweet, and there are things that have shaped him into the man that he is, so really, there isn’t anything to fear.

He’s opened up to her a little about those things. He obviously _trusts_ her. So, she can trust him, too. She can trust that he’s not going to go back on his word and that he’s going to bring her home.

The door opens. She looks up with wide eyes to see the captain standing there.

A smile breaks free before she can wrangle it in and he grins straight back at her.

She stands up awkwardly, the comb still in her hand while they face each other. She drops her smile and he steps down into the living area while he loses his.

“So, how about a tour?” he asks, raising his eyebrows playfully.

Emma tries to keep it neutral, but a smile finds her lips again. “That sounds great.”

She chastises herself for her choice of words as soon as he turns around and starts to lead her to the door.

Emma scowls, setting the comb down on the side table as she passes it.

“I’ve already told the men on the bridge you’re coming,” he tells her. They step into the hallway and she nods.

“Okay.” She feels an unreasonable amount of tension in her belly as her heart races at the sight of his face when he looks at her.

He shifts a bit nervously. “I told them we’re married, but you don’t need to act it… if you… I mean-”

Emma rolls her eyes and shakes her head. She suddenly feels strong and powerful over him.  "Should the feeling arise, _Husband_ , I’ll do what I feel is best.“

His cheeks are pink as his jaw locks and she wants to either squeal or giggle, because apparently her feelings aren’t as one sided as she thought.

Emma just smirks smugly, holding her head high as she follows his lead toward the bridge of the ship.

+++

Hook doesn’t know what happened to avoiding this connection. He knew it would be difficult, he just hadn’t thought it would be like… _this_. He keeps himself in check, avoiding any unnecessary eye contact or smiling as he points things out to her.

He’s already made himself a little obvious with the confusion that are his feelings toward Emma and he needs to take a break from her or he’ll end up ruining a perfectly good business transaction.

She’s smiling as they walk onto the bridge and he feels the eyes of his crew all over them as he escorts her to his chair.

“This is your chair?” she asks, pressing her fingers to the armrest.

He nods, smirking a little. “Aye.”

Emma hums, her eyes bright and playful before she plops down in it. He shakes his head, rolling his eyes a bit when she crosses her legs and stares out at the main window.

“I bet you bring all of the women here,” she sighs, giving him a look. He stares at her with his jaw agape for a moment, his tongue flitting over his lower lip.

“Actually, my love, you’re the first.” He pinches on a smile that she reciprocates.

“Good.” Emma bounces up onto her feet and he takes the opportunity to glance around at his crew. They’re all staring, some of them look a little confused, and he gestures to her.

“This is Emma,” he says, “and as I told you before, she’ll be staying with us for a few weeks while we travel.” Emma looks over at him and he smiles thinly. “And I expect that all of you will treat her with respect and will honor her wishes.”

He’s rewarded with nods and smiles. “How’d you land a beauty like this, Cap?” Evans teases from the console behind his chair.

Hook gives him a grin, looking straight back at Emma. She smiles sweetly, her cheeks a little pink.

“I ask myself that everyday,” he sighs.

“It was fate,” Emma takes a step toward him, her eyes scanning his features. She presses her palm to his chest when she’s close enough. And bloody hell, if his heart wasn’t racing before, it certainly is now. Her eyes shine at him, playful and innocent, and he wonders just where she comes from. He suddenly aches to know all about her. “And a couple of bottles of rum.”

That earns a good laugh and catcalls from his bridge crew. Hook tilts his head, suddenly consumed with the moment. She is smiling at him, truly smiling, and it makes him wonder again.

He wonders, for the most part, about what happened the night before. He wonders what her relationship is with her parents and what her life was like on Regina’s planet all those years ago. He wonders about the safety and condition of her heart, if she’s had it broken before. He suspects that she has, based upon those tears last night.

But now, she shows no signs of the lost, broken girl curled up in his lap. Instead, she’s the perfect actress.

He raises his eyebrows when her fingers trail up his chest and her palm settles against his cheek.

“If I recall, you couldn’t handle your rum.” She teases, making him frown. She presses her finger to his lips when he starts to object. “Don’t worry, babe, I won’t tell them how you made it up to me.”

She has an absolutely sinful look on her face, and if she weren’t acting, if this _marriage_ thing weren’t a sham, he might slam her up against the nearest wall and kiss the daylights out of her.

But, even though he’s a pirate, he is foremost a gentleman, so he doesn’t.

Her tongue teases at her lips before she drops her hand. She makes an obvious show of swaying her hips as she walks toward the door that leaves the bridge. “Coming, Captain?”

Hook grits his teeth and claps his hand over the curve of his hook before he nods to Smee. “Mister Smee you have the bridge.”

When the door to the head of the ship shuts, he turns to Emma, his eyes wide and his jaw set. “Emma, you can’t act like that anymore.”

She gives him a look. “If we want to sell this and not get sold out by one of them, it has to look real. I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t marry a complete saint.”

He huffs, his eyes flitting to the floor and his feet. “Just the same, I don’t think you should tease me.”

Emma narrows her eyes at him, confused, until they widen again. “Oh. Okay. Sorry. I get it.”

Her features visibly fade into something more stoney, her previous happiness that she’d been touting around erased from her eyes.

This is for the better. Making sure there are clear boundaries between them will make sure he’s just the pirate who happened to bring her home, instead of the mistake she made when she realizes that his intentions aren’t all that pure. She’s been through enough already that it would make him out to be a monster if they were to take this anywhere.

He grimaces to himself as she allows him to take the lead again down the hall.

+++

As soon as they finish their tour through _The Jolly Roger_ , Hook brings her back to his quarters.

“So are we close to finding Blackbeard?” she asks after he sits down at his desk. He glances over at the place she sits on the couch.

“As far as I’ve been told we’re about four hours shy of the Grotto, which should land us near him by morning, so long as his ship is still as slow as it was last we met.”

Emma hums, then looks down at her lap. Whatever joy and curiosity she’d felt earlier regarding her relationship with Hook has been dampened. Clearly he doesn’t want her as much as she thought he did, and it’s definitely for the best. She barely knows him and he could easily hurt her because of that.

She used to be very good at keeping her heart at bay, at keeping her walls up and attentive whenever feelings tried to intrude, but after the events of last night, when she couldn’t keep them to herself, when she allowed him to see her at her weakest, she’d just sort of thought that he might be different. Maybe he could be able to handle her. Maybe he could be different than everyone else in her life that was either taken from her or up and left.

He certainly hasn’t done either of those things in the time she’s known him. In fact, he’s come closer to her in these past three days.

She won’t force him to _fall in love with her_ or whatever. She’ll just have to live with their choices, even if they make the walls surrounding her heart come back up with a staggering vengeance.

“What do you know about Regina?” she asks him, looking back up. His gaze shifts from the tablet on his desk and he sighs, leaning back a little in his chair.

“She’s a sorceress,” he tells her with a shrug. “She’s been around for a very long time and no one who goes down to Tenebrae ever comes back out unless they’ve got permission.” He shakes his head. “Sounds bloody awful. It’s a wonder you ever escaped. She’s been looking for you lot since you left.”

Emma nods, rolling her eyes slightly. “That sounds like her.”

He chuckles. “Would you care to tell me what you were doing on her planet?”

She shrugs. “I grew up there. When I was a baby… I guess Regina took me from my parents and she tried to turn me into some sort of weapon, and my parents came looking for me before we were frozen. They were going to bring me home.”

Emma stares down at her hands in her lap and tears well up in her eyes as she remembers those final days and hours. There had been so much _pain_ \- and there still is. Knowing she’s lost what she has. It’s a wonder she’s not completely broken down.

She looks up from her lap and straightens out, trying to think hopefully. “What have you heard about Misthaven? Is it a good place?”

Hook’s expression shifts to distress and he shakes his head. “I haven’t heard much about it.”

He’s lying to her. His gaze drops like his voice does and she senses that there’s an awful lot more about Misthaven that he _does_ know, but he won’t tell her.

She stares at him for a few moments, watching him do his work as if he has no idea that she’s looking. He obviously does know, because he looks up at her again. “What about your debt to Pan? You told Robin Hood you were still searching for something. What is it?”

Hook sighs, shaking his head. “You ask a lot of questions, you know.”

Emma tilts her head. “I’m a curious person.”

“Aye,” he chuckles. “I’m well aware.” Hook leans back in his chair, sucking his lower lip into his mouth for a second while he studies her. “The Heart of the Truest Believer. It’s my debt to him after he helped me with something.”

Emma furrows her brow. “A heart?”

Hook tosses his head from side to side. “Not a _heart_. It’s… from what I’ve heard it’s of pure gold and it radiates pure light.” Hook sighs. “And I’ve been looking for it for several years. I’m eager to get out from under Pan’s thumb, as you can well imagine.”

“Yeah,” Emma nods, scoffing.

Captain Jones smiles a little at that. “I’ve heard that it might be a mere rumor, that he’s sent me on a wild goose chase. I suppose I’ll never really know if that’s the case if I don’t search the bloody universe from top to bottom.”

Emma laughs at the idea, but then her features soften. “And that’s why you capture junkers, right? Because you’re looking for it. For information leading to it. Junkers don’t always know what they have on board.”

Hook nods hesitantly. “Aye.”

She presses her hands together in her lap and looks down at them. “Instead you found me.”

He’s silent for a moment in observation of her. “That I did.”

Emma’s eyes close.

She wants to go home now.

+++

Emma smiles at the crewmen as they pass her in the hall. She’s been wandering the ship for a while, deep in thought. Mainly, she’s trying to think positively about finding her parents soon, but she’s also considering what she’ll do if they end up unable to find them or if Blackbeard did something to them.

Will she stay with Hook? Is it even worth it to stay with Hook?

Their relationship is confusing at best, but Emma isn’t entirely sure where she’d go if she was stuck with the choice of leaving him. She’s wanted by Regina, and she knows that if Regina finds her, only _bad_ things could ever come from it.

Emma is quite simply stuck. She has nowhere to go and no options. Even if she went to Misthaven to claim the crown, she wouldn’t know what to do.

Despite the weight of her thoughts, it’s nice to get out of Hook’s cabin. There isn’t much to do on a ship of pirates, so she often finds herself wandering around without any purpose.

She’s about to turn into the captain’s quarters when she’s stopped by a smiling teenager with freckled cheeks and a bashful smile. She smiles in return.

“Sorry to bother you, Missus, but,” he fidgets with his fingers at his sides. “Captain wondered if you’d join him on the bridge.”

“Oh,” Emma’s eyes widen. “Of course. Thank you.”

The teenager nods. “If you don’t mind my saying, Missus, Cap’s got it awfully sore about you. He hasn’t been quite himself today.” Emma smiles softly, tilting her head onto her shoulder.

“Well,” she laughs, trying to place herself in the role of his wife. “I don’t think we can blame him. It’s been a few months since we parted ways.”

The boy chuckles. “Cap’s never been like this, though, mum. It’ll do him good if you hurry.”

Emma laughs again, nodding.

“Alright. Thank you…"

“Stevens. Drew Stevens.” he supplies.

Emma bobs her head. “Thank you, Drew.”

Emma hurries her way to the bridge unabashedly, because now that she has something to do, she’s not going to let the opportunity pass her by. As soon as the door opens, she steps onto the bridge with pride, as if she owns the place.

Hook is slumped down into his chair, looking miserable when she comes up to his side. Some of his men make eyes at her, silently warning her of their captain’s disposition.

She sighs at him. “You called?”

Hook looks up at her and almost immediately a smile crosses his face. She can’t help but return it shyly as he stands.

“You’re just in time, my heart, we’re about to come out of hyper drive. We’ll be landing a few light-years out from the Line, but this is as good a place as any to start our search.” Emma smiles wider as he explains. He gestures to his chair. “Have a seat, darling, and watch how it’s done.”

She gives him a playful look, his own face wildly cocky and proud. She drops down into his chair and folds her legs, glancing over as she watches and listens to the function of his crew as they work.

It doesn’t take much for them to drop out of hyper speed, it turns out, and as soon as they slow to a gentler pace, everything in the front of her slows. Where before things had been zipping past in a chaotic blur, now she can make out stars and planets, or the corner of one.

Directly in front of them there is a nebula, colors more beautiful than anything drawing a gasp from her throat. She’s never seen something so lovely.

Hook leans down close to her ear and she smiles softly at his words. “It’s almost as beautiful as you.” His words are whispered, just for her, and it confuses her, but she has no time to question him, because he pops back up onto his feet and steps up to stand by the console above her head. “Smee, scan the area for anything out of the ordinary. We’re looking for Blackbeard. He might be cloaked; he might be on the move.”

“Aye, Cap’n.”

She watches again, studies the way people move around, listening and doing their jobs. It’s amazing. _This_ is _amazing_.

“Um, Captain, we’re being hailed.” A voice, she thinks his name is _Evans_ , speaks.

“Who is it?” Hook asks.

“Unclear, Cap.” Hook sighs and then returns to her side.

“Darling, it would be best if you weren’t here.” His eyes are full of concern and she immediately stands, nodding. He catches her wrist, leaning in to whisper, “You might be recognized. Otherwise I’d let you stay. Go to my quarters. I’ll come for you when we’ve got answers.”

“Okay.” Emma bobs her head, smiling a little at him as her response.

He releases his gentle hold on her wrist and she hurries off of the bridge with a smile to the crewmen who meet her eyes.

She’s excitedly nervous. This could be _it._ This could be Blackbeard. This could be their key to finding her parents- to finally being able to start fresh like they’d told her they would.

Emma begins to pace when she enters the captain’s quarters. Nerves tickle at her palms and she looks down at them to find her hands glowing white with a pulse of magic ready to erupt.

She squeezes her eyes shut. “Not now,” she mutters, cringing. “Not now.”

+++

Hook waits to hear the sound of the compressed air before he nods to Evans, who opens the communication.

“Captain Hook,” Blackbeard’s low growl cuts through the bridge, his image flickering onto the screen.

Hook smiles sarcastically. “Aye. Fancy meeting you here, Blackbeard. I thought they outlawed cowards in this part of the universe.”

Blackbeard cackles. “Hook, you bastard. What are you doing here? Did you come to find anything in particular?”

Blackbeard’s teasing him now and Hook growls.

“Don’t play with me, mate. I’ve got half a mind to blow your craft from here to the Milky Way. What say you we meet up in person? I’ve got a few things I need to discuss with you and I’d rather not do it like this.”

Blackbeard stares at him for a moment, then takes a deep breath. “Hook, my boy,” the man leans forward, “You’ve got a lot to learn.”

Hook rolls his eyes. “Where are you going? We can meet there. I’ll provide the rum so long as you let me keep my hand.” He tosses up his right arm, drawing out a low chuckle from the man.

“Very well, Hook. We’ll meet. I’m about to go down to the surface of Eremus.”

“Eremus it is, then.” Hook tosses his left hand up and Evans turns off the communication. “You heard me, mates. To Eremus.“

+++

Emma sits on the bed and grabs Belle’s book to occupy her thoughts. It works for a while, until she starts to worry about how long it’s been since she left the bridge.

She gets up and goes to wander toward the windows. She shakes her head, nervously sliding her hands against her thighs as she stands there.

She doesn’t know what to do with herself. She’s never been this nervous about anything in her entire life.

Well, except for when she’d been a teenager sitting in the cottage in the woods with sweat coating her entire body as it groaned and ached with pangs of labor.

She doesn’t know how long she’s been standing there when the door opens. She whirls around, eyes wide as her tongue sticks to the roof of her mouth. Hook enters with speed.

“Great news, love,” he grins, “it was Blackbeard. He’s still angry with me, but I found out where he’s going.”

Emma shakes her head, an excited smile on her lips. “Where is he going?”

He breathes a laugh. “Not to the Line as Belle thought. He’s going to Eremus, which is only a few hours’ journey.”

Emma laughs. “That _is_ great news.” He nods. “How did you get him to tell you where he was going?”

Captain Jones shakes his head. “I told him I wanted to speak with him in person.”

She bites her lip and laughs, unable to stop her joy from bubbling forward. She might get to see her parents soon. She might get to be held by them and to not be _alone_ anymore.

Hook smiles warmly at her before she tackles him, her arms looping around his neck and her head tucked under his chin. He stumbles slightly, obviously not having prepared for her hug, and she squeezes her eyes shut, breathing him in deep.

“Thank you, Hook. Thank you.” His arm tightens around her back and she smiles a little against his coat before she steps back again.

He is smiling. “It’s not over yet,” he reminds her softly, reaching out to brush back her hair. She feels her belly twist at the sensation of his fingers in her hair. “But it’s a wondrous start.”

She takes a step back, still smiling, though she feels dizzy and her magic zips under her skin, threatening to come bursting forth from her fingertips all over again.

“I- I should come with you,” Emma states, straightening out her shoulders. “I want to be there when he tells you where they are.”

The captain nods. “All right. So long as you allow me to do all of the talking. I don’t trust him. He and I have a very complicated history. And, need I remind you, you’re wanted.”

Emma swallows and bobs her head. “I just want to find them.”

“Aye,” he sighs. “I know. As do I.”

He doesn’t say it, but Emma knows that he’s thinking about the target that’s on his back, for having her on his ship, much less the fact that he’s searching for her parents, whom he _lost_.

Hook’s tongue dampens his lips. “We’ll be landing soon enough. Perhaps you should wear a disguise. Blackbeard might know who you are. He already has an idea that the cargo he stole from underneath me is valuable.”

“Right,” Emma sighs.

The pirate takes a step back and his hand falls to his belt buckle as a gentle smile fills his cheeks. “We’re on the right track, Emma.”

She forces herself to smile back at him, feeling just a little bit weak just at the idea of seeing her parents again. She doesn’t want to get her hopes up, but with Hook so sure of himself, she can’t help but feel like she might see her parents soon.


	10. Chapter 10

ten

There’s something about the smell of Eremus that makes him cringe. The desert planet contains no life except for that of the small town Blackbeard’s ship has taken over. The sky is clear with light tufts of clouds and the two suns hang high in the sky, producing a bright day for he and his crew as they step off of the _Jolly_.

Emma stands there with him, wincing at the sunlight in all of its piercing glory. He settles his hand on his belt buckle and turns to his crew.

“Smee, you’ll keep the ship running. Davis, I want you with us. The rest of you, I need you to set up a perimeter in case something goes wrong. Blackbeard’s never been below an unfair duel.”

Hook takes a deep breath and turns to Emma, holding her gaze for a few lingering seconds, words on the tip of his tongue that he promptly disregards, before he starts to lead the way into the town.

Emma’s wrapped up in clothes that conceal her identity fairly well. He’s worried, almost too much, that one day they’ll slip up and someone will know who she is. He truly can’t afford to be caught with her, but determined as she is; she won’t let him have his way.

“Swan,” he says, turning his gaze to her. She looks at him, surprised by his use of her last name, and he reaches over to pull at the fabric covering her neck. “You can’t be caught. Do you understand?”

Emma nods. “Yes.”

“Good.” Killian sucks in a breath. He looks ahead of him, toward the town looming on the horizon. “I’ll call you Swan to keep suspicion at bay.”

“Alright.”

+++

It doesn’t take them long to get into the town of the planet of Eremus. Emma is mostly surprised that the planet is so desolate. She’d thought that Blackbeard might want a densely populated place to keep himself hidden and secure, but apparently the space pirate has other ideas.

Dust kicks up from the ground as they walk and she’s glad for the scarf wrapped around her face, because without it, she’d surely be choking and coughing away.

Hook leads them straight up to one of the buildings. There’s a foreign language labeling everything in this town, and without anyone outside- probably for fear of sand diseases- it’s interesting to her seeing how he knows his way around.

Perhaps it shouldn’t really surprise her that space pirate Captain Hook knows his way around desolate pirating planets, but then again Hook has shown himself to be somewhat soft underneath all of that dark leather and eyeliner and it has her easily conflicted at the moment.

The instant they enter the building, Emma realizes why they’ve come directly to it. It’s a bar. A loud, excited bar, filled with space pirates of the worst kind. Her gaze dances around the room, trying to take everything in at once, and she finds herself almost overwhelmed.

There are men and aliens at every turn, all species are probably represented here, and she wonders just how they all fit into this tiny town on this relatively small planet.

Emma feels Hook’s hand on her back and she turns, meeting his eyes through the smoky haze of the bar atmosphere.

“Stay with me,” he says. Emma swallows and nods and follows his lead as he starts weaving his way through the building, going straight toward the darkened back.

The moment they make it to the doorway that she presumes Blackbeard resides behind she gets tense with fear. Guards stand outside of a blocked off area, men with weapons and armor, and she starts to wonder if this place isn’t just home to Blackbeard at the moment, but maybe to Regina as well.

It’s unreasonable for her to think Regina would keep herself alive all these years in order to seek revenge over Emma and her parents, but she knows Regina well enough to know that hatred isn’t something she gets over easily.

She begins to run through scenarios in which Blackbeard is secretly working with Regina and that in a few minutes, she’ll have to fight fiercely if she ever wants to live an even somewhat normal life.

Emma holds her breath as she averts her gaze from the guard, her fingers starting to tremble at her sides, warmth sinking down into her palms. She knows what it means, knows that it’s only a matter of seconds before she’ll explode, but she can harness her magic. She’s been able to do it before. It’s just not the easiest when she’s under so much pressure.

“Let us through. We’ve got business with Blackbeard.”

The guards look at them and Emma’s body alights with chills when she mistakenly looks up at one, meeting his eyes directly. He eyes her over, the question on his lips, but then Hook surprises her, wrapping his arm around her middle.

“She’s mine,” he says. “Get your eyes off of her or I’ll have no trouble gouging them out for you.”

The guard straightens out and scowls, but they’re allowed into the secret back area and Emma feels almost like flying the second she remembers that they’re here to get her _parents_ back.

Blackbeard has them- he has to.

Hook’s hand falls away from her and she looks at him. “That was pretty damn close.”

“It’s fine,” he promises her. “The worst is almost over.”

_Almost_ being the imperative word.

+++

Hook clenches his hand into a fist as he turns away from Emma and toward the devil himself, Blackbeard.

He’s seated at a table with a few voluptuous women at his sides, a smirk on his lips as he toys with a tankard of Eremus’ finest, hardest liquor. Music plays softly from somewhere in the corner and he can smell one of the barmaids in the back kitchen preparing something savory.

“Captain Hook,” Blackbeard says cheerfully, his gaze and voice taunting. “What a privilege and honor to make your acquaintance yet again. It’s been far too long, hasn’t it?”

For a moment, Hook considers driving his hook into the table, but thinks better of it, pulling on a smile as he approaches the table. He stops, Emma and Davis behind him, and he knows Blackbeard must be assessing the situation.

“Cut it out, mate,” Hook says. “I’m not here for pleasantries. I’m here for my-”

“Your crates, yes, I know,” Blackbeard cuts him off. He relaxes into his chair, his fingers running over the rim of a coin in his hand. He glances down at his mug and then back up at Emma, keeping his expression neutral. “Who’s this?”

Hook feels his blood begin to boil and he grits his teeth, glancing over at the object of Blackbeard’s attention. She seems tense, holding her shoulders square and her eyes a bit wider.

“None of your business,” Hook states. Blackbeard hums. “Now, you answer me: where are my freezing units?”

The other pirate tilts his head to the side and takes a swallow of his drink before speaking. He drags his tongue over his lips and shakes his head once. “I don’t have them.”

If he weren’t severely angry before, now he certainly is. Hook quells his anger, though, merely peeling back a demeaning grin and leaning in close with narrowed eyes. “You don’t have them.”

“No,” Blackbeard replies simply. He lifts his drink to his lips again and Hook rolls his eyes, settling his hand on the hilt of his sword as he straightens out.

“Would you care to elaborate or shall I spend another hour watching you drink?”

The dark-haired man before him seems to get a rise out of seeing him like this, a small smirk filling his cheeks as he shakes his head.

“I traded them to some bloke a few systems back. I had no use for them and he had rum. My men had been itching for some. Who was I to turn down an offer like that?”

Hook watches Blackbeard’s vision shift back onto Emma as he takes his tankard to his lips. “Now, Hook, if I were you,” he has a sip of his drink, “I’d get her someplace far, far, far away from here. You know she’s wanted goods.”

And that does it. Hook slams his fist onto the table and wipes it clear, leaning in close as the women jump away in fear.

“You lying bastard,” he snarls, “you told me you had them.”

“Did I?” Blackbeard laughs. “Well, that’s something. That’s really something, Hook. You know, the last I checked, _The Jolly Roger_ is still rightfully mine, and how did you happen to steal her back from me? Oh! That’s right. You _lied_ to _me_.”

Realization sets in all too quickly and he swears under his breath. “You-” He sucks in a breath and spins around only to turn back to his nemesis with an outstretched finger. “You won’t take her from me. She’s _my_ ship.”

He’s already halfway to the door, Emma and Davis on his heels, when Blackbeard speaks again. “Maybe we can make a deal. I’ll call back my men from your prized dingy, and in return, you’ll give me something.”

Hook squeezes his hand closed so tightly that he can hardly feel it and then turns to face the pirate again. “What do you want?”

“That’s more like it,” Blackbeard grins. He looks to Emma. “Her.”

Hook doesn’t hesitate when he says, “You don’t want her.”

“Aye. I do.”

Not even for a moment does he hesitate. He won’t give Blackbeard Emma. He can’t do that. He’s a man of virtue, despite the title of space pirate, and if Blackbeard were to take Emma from him, he already knows Blackbeard wouldn’t treat her properly.

Hook shrugs, smiling. “Then goodbye, Blackbeard. I’m sure I will dearly miss our talks. Hopefully you’ll enjoy captaining an empty vessel because I haven’t slain anyone worth my time in months.”

Blackbeard clearly senses he’s about to lose and Hook takes full advantage, stepping back toward the door again. “Are you certain you don’t want to play fair?”

“I did until you requested that I hand her over.”

“She isn’t worth losing your ship, is she?”

“It’s not good form.” Hook says, his voice unwavering as his teeth grit together. “And if you want my ship, then it will only be by winning a proper duel. I refuse to be swindled by you without a fair fight.”

Blackbeard breaks out into a grin. “Oh, I am _so_ glad you asked.” He pulls away from the table, standing with his blade drawn almost instantly. “Let’s have it out right now.”

“It would be my _pleasure_.”

+++

Emma isn’t sure how she ends up battling with some busty brunette, smashing glass into the bar as she attempts to fend for her life, but as soon as Blackbeard had agreed upon a duel, all hell had broken loose.

She hasn’t ever had to fight like this before, with her bare hands and whatever she can find around her. Then again, she’s only ever been in a few fights in her life, and with each of those she’s had her magic at her fingertips.

Emma has seen war, too, and while war on Regina’s planet had been awful, at least she hadn’t fought in it, deemed too important and precious to be sent out to the front lines.

“Bloody hell,” she hears Hook curse. When she looks over after successfully knocking the brunette unconscious, Blackbeard has two men at his sides, with phasers drawn. “I said a fair duel.”

“This isn’t the eighteenth century,” Blackbeard laughs.

Emma feels it bubbling up in her, the uncontrollable need to protect what’s hers, and she surges forward, warmth once again pulsing toward her hands.

“Don’t you dare shoot him,” she growls, blasting all three of the men down onto their backs.

Hook turns to her with his eyes blown wide and his jaw agape, but Emma shakes her head and grabs him by the arm, her hands still pulsing hot and white.

“Come on. We gotta go if you want to keep me safe. I’m pretty sure he won’t hesitate to tell someone about me now.”

He stares at her, his chest heaving still, and nods. “Aye.”

+++

There is something about a woman who takes charge that has Hook liking Emma Swan even better. She takes a weapon from one of the fallen and they start back through the bar, fending off Blackbeard’s crew as they walk.

Emma looks like a professional assassin, the way she’s knocking men onto their backs with a blast to their chests. At one point, he catches her eye and smiles at her; he can’t bloody help himself. She smirks in a sort of reply and fires her weapon at one final man standing between them and the door.

Then, it’s a rush to get to _The Jolly Roger_ in the midst of a sandstorm on one of the sandiest planets in the galaxy. He holds his arm over his mouth as they run and he watches as Davis and Emma both keep turning back toward the abandoned bar to shoot at men whose lasers blast even more sand up into their faces.

Emma drops her weapon when a particularly large gust of wind hits them, her body nudging straight into his. He holds her steady as they continue to forge on ahead and then she separates from him, groaning loudly when one of Blackbeard’s men hits her leg.

She collapses onto the ground.

It’s almost as if the wind gets knocked clean out of his chest. He doesn’t waste time. He shoots back at the bastards firing at them and then scoops Emma up into his arms, starting to run even faster toward his ship.

He prays to the gods above that Smee and his men have been able to fend off the rest of Blackbeard’s men and that they’ll be able to get off of this damned planet soon.

Emma isn’t terribly heavy, but her weight certainly adds to the struggle he’s having getting them where they need to go.

“Davis!” he calls over his shoulder. “Has Smee made any communication with you? Is it clear?”

Davis nods. “Aye, Captain. All clear.”

“Well, it’s a bloody miracle.” Hook grumbles sarcastically, turning his attention back to his ship. It isn’t far now. He glances down at Emma and she groans some more, the sound muffled by layers of cloth. “You alright, Swan?”

“Hurts,” she says, and he nods.

“We’ll be back on the ship soon. Promise.”

When he reaches the ship, he storms aboard, not stopping as he bellows out, “Smee, get us far, far away from here. I don’t want us found by even our friends.”

“Aye aye, Captain.”

+++

There is silence in Hook’s quarters and it helps ease the pain. He lays her down on his bed and she pants, feeling _hot_ and _burning_ all over. It’s funny, because the last time he was tending to her wounds, she was frozen.

“We’ve got a machine that’ll heal you straight up,” Hook says, leaning over her as he works her pants off of her legs. Emma grits her teeth and winces when he slides the fabric over the gushing wound. “Bloody hell, it’s worse than I thought. Phaser burns are nasty creatures, aren’t they?”

“You think?” Emma grits out.

He laughs and finally, her pants are gone and all she feels is numbing pain, the blood loss making her dizzy enough to want to shut her eyes and sleep.

“You were brilliant out there,” he tells her. “Bloody fantastic. I’ve never seen someone so talented with a weapon and that’s saying something.”

Emma chuckles in spite of herself, lolling her head from side to side when Hook’s hand presses against her leg as he examines the injury.

“The only one who saves me is me,” she tells him, smiling softly. “I never needed you.”

He looks up at her and smiles, shrugging. “You don’t have to tell me that, love. You’ve made that perfectly clear.”

They stare at each other for a few moments and Emma is reminded of how things have shifted between them so easily. With him protecting her rather than fighting against her, he’s necessarily softer toward her, and with each passing conversation, he’s definitely revealed that his feelings for her aren’t strictly platonic as they probably should be. She wonders why he would even _like_ her, but then again, she finds herself staring at him more than she should to begin with.

Hook looks away with a fading grin and Emma’s heart sinks, her eyes shutting as she takes a steadying breath.

“So my parents are gone again,” she says.

“Aye,” he says softly. Emma opens her eyes and finds him staring at her again. “I’m sorry, Emma.”

“Don’t be,” she whispers back. “It’s not your fault.”

Hook drops his gaze to Emma’s leg and takes a step back. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. Don’t move.”

“Okay.”

When he leaves with a pressurized hiss, Emma releases a single tear and shuts her eyes as she wipes at her cheek. All she’s wanted for these past few days are to find her parents so that she can go home and live life again.

Her entire life has been cut short, it feels like, and with each hiccup comes even more disappointment and uncertainty. She wonders if this is normal, if other people live their lives _waiting_ so much. Waiting for love. Waiting for safety. Waiting for _home_.

She doesn’t have anything with her here on Hook’s ship, just her heart and mind and soul, and she knows what her mother would try to tell her: that happy endings aren’t always what we think they should be, that she should try to make the best of each situation, but life has dealt her a pretty shitty hand.

The door opens again and she opens her eyes to see Hook standing there, a tool in his hand. He approaches the side of the bed and sighs, looking at her wound.

“It might sting a bit, so don’t be afraid to curse. I’m a pirate, I’ve heard pretty much everything in the books.”

He’s playing with her, trying to make her feel at ease, and it reminds her of her father, when she first saw him after all those years apart. He’d teased that she was a little bit taller than he’d thought she would be.

Emma laughs through her nose and fists the sheets as Hook gently shifts her leg for easier access.

As he operates the machine, she groans, but doesn’t curse, and Hook keeps promising her that it’s almost done, but all she feels is lightheaded and her leg is burning her.

“All finished,” he says finally.

She opens her eyes to find that the skin is patched over, and all that remains from her wound is the blood that stains the sheets. It makes her cringe and she hopes he doesn’t mind having to change them, wonders if he even has any sheets to change.

“You shouldn’t move it for a few days. The skin is tender.” Hook says, smiling gently. “But otherwise you’re good as new.”

He takes the machine and sets it down, then goes digging through his closet for a blanket that he promptly places on her.

He stands at her side, relatively close to her, when he says, “I’ve had many a phaser burn. You’ll get cold for a while. Then hot again. Then cold. It’s a pretty awful injury, but luckily it heals quickly if you don’t wait too terribly long to use this machine on it.”

Emma hums as the first chills tickle her skin. She sucks in a breath. “Thank you, Hook.”

He nods. “Aye. Anything you need, tell me.” His gaze is incredibly soft, reminding her of the way he’d looked at her when he’d told her that he found Blackbeard. “You gave me a bit of a fright back there when you fell.”

She rolls her eyes. “Don’t make it sound like I’m _that_ important to you, Hook. I know you’re in this because you want something from me when we find my parents again.”

Hook hesitates, shaking his head on a wobbly, weak smile. “Emma, that isn’t true.”

“Yeah it is,” Emma says, but his face doesn’t confirm that for her. “Don’t worry. I get it. You’re a pirate with a debt and I’m a _princess_ of some far off planet.”

His jaw shifts. “Perhaps, but I believe in good form. I don’t expect anything of you, Swan.”

Emma stares at him as he sits on the bed beside her.

In silence, he removes his boots and then lies back beside her. He turns onto his side after a moment to face her and Emma unabashedly studies his face, finding age in it, wisdom beyond his physical years.

“What am I going to do now?” she whispers, fear of what’s to come setting in again. “I can’t go home by myself and my parents are still missing.”

Hook reaches out to take her hand and she’s pleasantly surprised at how warm he is. “We’ll keep looking,” he promises. “They can’t have gotten far.”

“But we don’t even have any leads,” Emma argues, tears welling up in her eyes. “I’m so scared.”

He frowns deeply, shifting in the bed so he can press his lips to her forehead in one of the most heartwarming kisses she’s ever experienced. She sniffles when he pushes his forehead against hers.

“I’m here,” he says gently. “And if you’ll let me, I’ll keep you safe.”

Emma finds comfort in him now, finds safety, and finds hope. She knows that he’s all she has, realistically, and if he’s everything she has, she would be remiss if she didn’t open up at least a little for him.

She knows very little about him, but he’s done nothing but keep her safe and wipe her tears away when she’s been anxious or heartbroken or hurting. He’s gone such great distances for her, has taken his ship from one end of the galaxy to the other and back around again, and she hasn’t ever thanked him for that.

Not that she needs to. She knows he’s doing it out of the goodness within his heart that somehow has sought out the light of day thanks to her.

She nudges her nose against his and she feels his breath on her face, warm. Her hand releases his and she presses it against his cheek, her thumb stroking over the curve of his cheek, skin tingling with every gentle scratch of his beard.

He isn’t expecting it when she kisses him, she knows he isn’t because he’s stiff at first, and she’s struck with a pang of anxiety because it might even be too soon for this for _her_ , much less him.

She doesn’t know why she decided that kissing him would even be a good idea, to be honest. It just felt right.

When he kisses her back, relief washes over her in a wave and she breaks the kiss when she feels like it might be too long, leaning her forehead back up against his again.

“That was…”

“Thank you. For everything.”

Emma meets his eyes and sees nothing but the promise of another day, and it’s for that reason she’s able to rest, the calming hum of the spaceship along with the steady beat of Hook’s heart lulling her to sleep with her cheek pressed against his chest when he turns onto his back.

Maybe happy endings aren’t always what we think they’ll be.

Or maybe all she deserves is heartache after heartache, and come the morning, Hook will prove her right- that he’s a pirate with only greed on his mind.

But for now she clings to that thread of hope, wishing for answers, hoping for clarity, and knowing that Hook tastes like rum and feels just like coming home.


	11. Chapter 11

eleven

They’ve settled into something of a pattern. Emma has made herself part of the crew, joining them for meals and mingling with the men of _The Jolly Roger_ as if she’s been there for her whole life.

She laughs- what a glorious, glorious sound it is- quite a bit now, seemingly taking herself out of the sadness she’d settled into for a few days, when all she could think about was her missing parents and being so out of place.

He likes seeing her here, finding a home in the midst of junk from hauls and greasy pirates. His men quite appreciate her presence, too. He’s often found the men humming or whistling some tune Emma had apparently been singing over breakfast before he came down.

They haven’t given up on finding her parents. They’re still keeping low as a result of what happened on Eremus and until he hears word from his contact, he’s not going to be caught flying about the universe with the missing princess aboard his ship, dancing in the galley kitchen while she pours pancake batter onto a skillet.

Hook watches her from the doorway. She hasn’t seen him yet, and he’s content in seeing her standing there, her hips swaying as a blissful tune slips past her lips. She has her hair piled up above her head and she’s wearing one of his spare shirts, tucked haphazardly into a pair of pants he’d had one of his smaller crewmen offer up.

Her toes are bare and he smiles at the way she pushes up onto them when she needs to grab the plates in the cabinet.

He steps in behind her in time to steady her before she falls and she smiles a little, rolling her eyes as she drops her heels back onto the floor. She sets the plates down and arches an eyebrow at him.

“I had them.”

“I know.”

She stares at him for a moment and glances over his shoulder before popping back up onto her toes for a kiss that makes him grin against her lips, tasting the coffee rations on her tongue.

Her teeth graze over her lower lip as she pulls away and he feels a bit giddy, squaring her in against the counter. She laughs under her breath and presses her palms against his chest, giving him a warning look.

“I’m making breakfast for the crew and they’re going to be here any second.”

“I don’t care,” he mumbles, smiling as he presses a few kisses to her lips. “You taste delightful in the morning.”

His stomach grumbles in upset at that very moment and he sighs, leaning his forehead against Emma’s.

She hums in a matter-of-factly way and he can practically see the I-told-you-so look on her face when she speaks, “You need to stop kissing me or I’ll burn your pancakes.”

“Apologies,” he says, leaving a kiss to her forehead before he steps back. “Sometimes I forget we’ve a ship full of never truly sated apes.”

Emma laughs and puts two cakes onto a plate. She turns back toward him. “Help me?”

Hook smiles softly and takes the plate, “Always.”

+++

Emma sits in Hook’s quarters with a book in her lap. She’s been stuck on the same line for the past twenty minutes, her mind too consumed with other thoughts to really read, so she turns her attention to the big windows that show her the stars.

  
They’re orbiting around a planet that Hook had told her was a safe place, one with hardly any life on it, one that would be just far enough away from the police and just close enough to where they’ll be off to when the time comes.

With each passing day of waiting, Emma finds herself becoming uneasy. Finding two freezing containers is hard enough without a tracking device, but finding two freezing containers with however millions of people standing between them- it’s impossible.

She knows that Hook will stop at nothing to find them, though, and it’s probably the only thing that keeps her relatively at ease for the time being.

“Are you alright?”

Emma turns, her eyes wide, and finds Hook standing at his desk. “Oh. I didn’t hear you come in.”

He shakes his head. “That’s alright. What’ve you been doing? I thought you’d be keeping Stevens company in the hold today.”

“I didn’t feel like it,” Emma shrugs. She turns her attention back toward the windows and watches the stars.

She hears him approach the sofa and while she’s loathe to admit it, she wants him to. He sits beside her, taking a breath. “All right. Out with it, love. It’ll do you no good to keep it bottled up.”

Emma looks at him and shrugs, shaking her head. “When are we going to _do_ something? We’ve been sitting here for five days.”

He sighs as he looks forward, clearly having anticipated the question. “Aye, I know. I haven’t received word that it’s clear yet.”

“Meanwhile, my parents are being passed around like cards at a poker game.” Emma snaps, her heart stuttering at the admission of her fear.

Hook nods. “That is a possibility.”

Emma closes her eyes and presses her hands against her face, threading them through her hair as she looks forward again.

“Emma, I know it’s difficult and it seems as if we haven’t any sense of direction, but as long as I am breathing, I swear I’ll keep looking.” He searches her eyes and then reaches out to take her hand, looking down at it tenderly. “I won’t make you stay. I’ll protect you for as long as you need me to, but, should you wish to leave, I won’t insist you stay.”

Emma smiles softly, tilting her head to her shoulder. “I don’t want to leave.”

He smiles a little, one of his embarrassed grins, a fragile spread. “Good. Because to be fair, I’m not sure what I would’ve done had you decided to go off on your own.”

She laughs through her nose and swallows. “You’ve been through a lot for me,” she tells him. “I can’t imagine you’d miss me. All of the danger I put you through.”

Hook chuckles, arching an eyebrow at her. “I’m a space pirate, Swan. I live for danger.”

Emma hesitates for a moment before leaning into him. His arm wraps around her shoulders and she watches the stars again, seeking comfort in the arms of the pirate who saved her.

“Tell me something?” she asks quietly.

“Hm? What would you like to know?”

“What’s your name?”

He’s quiet and she moves so she can look him in the eyes. He’s staring at her like she’s one of those stars, a soft smile itching at the corners of his lips. “Killian.”

“Killian,” she repeats, her voice soft. She takes her fingers and cards them through his hair, a smile spreading on her face. “Can I call you by your name or do you still want me to call you Hook?”

He shakes his head. “Call me whatever you’d like.”

Emma cups his face with one hand and kisses him softly, but no less passionately.

She’s found that he relies on her for their kisses. If she doesn’t want to kiss him, he won’t push her to, and it’s something that makes her realize just how much less of a pirate he is and all the more a gentleman.

“I think I like Killian,” she whispers. “You look like a Killian.”

He chuckles. “It’s been quite a while since anyone’s called me that.”

Emma runs her fingers through his hair and tilts her head, smiling gently, honored that she’d be allowed to use his given name at all.

His communicator chirps and he sighs, glancing over at it. “I should check.”

Emma drops her hand from his hair and he gets up from the couch. As he stands at his desk where the device sits, she watches him, leaning her head into the back of the couch.

“Good news?” she asks.

He glances up at her and nods, a grin spreading on his face. “Aye. Great news. They’ve called off the search for us.” Relief settles over her that they’re finally free from an intense search, that they can finally start doing things again. “We’ll have to keep it quiet for a bit, because we’re fresh on their minds, but at least we don’t have a target too large on our backs.”

Emma stands up, her smile filling her cheeks on it’s own, and she takes a breath. “We can start looking again.”

“Aye,” Killian says, setting the communicator down again. He takes a few steps toward her and when they meet, she reaches for his hand, giving it a warm squeeze. His happiness fades in a moment, though, instead his brow creasing.

“What is it?”

“I’ve got Pan on my back still. We’ve got to bring in another haul soon and we haven’t-”

Emma shrugs. “We can find an easy one, right? Head back to Neverland, then be right back on my parents’ trail.”

Killian studies her face, searching her eyes, and shakes his head. “Darling, if we leave this system for Neverland we’ll lose them.”

She tries to not let it get to her. She knows the truth- it’s been stirring within her mind every hour of every day that they’ve been stranded here.

“It’s been five days. I’m pretty sure we never had them to begin with.” Emma looks down at their hands. “It’s okay. Do what you need to do. I’ll wait.”

“Are you certain?” Killian asks, his tone grave. “Because I would gladly rebel against that boy if it meant we could get a better grasp on who has your parents.”

Emma looks back up at him. She’s fairly certain he must know by now what’s going through her mind. She’s not thinking of a future where she’ll find her parents. Sure, finding them would be amazing and wonderful, and she wouldn’t have to feel like she’s missing something all the time.

But, thinking realistically about everything that’s happened over the past few weeks, knowing Killian is willing to keep her here safe, she rationalizes that staying on the ship is her best bet at a life now.

If she were to go onto a planet, there’s absolutely no way she’d find a place where people wouldn’t eventually realize who she is. And if the pirates on _The Jolly_ know who she is, at least she has Killian and Mister Smee to back her up and protect her.

“I’m sure.”

+++

“All right, boys,” Killian says, a smile inching at the corner of his lips. “Let’s pull her in and prepare to board.”

He leaves the bridge of his ship and goes for his quarters, finding Emma standing at the windows, her arms wrapped around her front as she watches the dingy ship in the near distance.

Her attention doesn’t waver and he finds that watching her like this, so attentive and peaceful, is something precious. She’s always been beautiful to him, the princess, but with the stars glowing against her skin, he thinks she’s unfathomably more so.

Killian settles his hand on the curve of his hook and considers his next move, taking a step into the living area with a soft smile. “We’re boarding her soon.”

Emma turns to him, her eyes wide, and nods. “I’ve been watching.”

“It’s abandoned. There isn’t anyone aboard. But that isn’t to say there aren’t robots.”

Emma hums in understanding and slides her hands down her arms until they rest at her sides. She steps close to him, shrugging. “Can I help?”

He opens his mouth for a second and closes it promptly. “I don’t know-”

She smirks. “I’m a pirate now, right? I’m part of the crew. I make meals for everyone.”

Killian sighs, tilting his head at her. “You’re more than that and you know it.”

The princess shrugs. “Maybe.” She bites on her lip and presses her hands to his chest. “What do you say, Captain? I’m pretty good with my hands and I know how to handle myself in a fight.”

Emma pushes up onto her toes and her fingers dance up his chest until they find the back of his head, her fingers digging into his hair while her nose presses against his and he finds it impossible to breathe because she has her lips hovering a breath away from his.

He doesn’t know what he’s done to deserve her in his life, but he isn’t going to question it now.

“If I say no will you come anyway?” he asks in a shaky whisper.

Emma hums. “You know I’m not good at staying put.”

“Then yes, you can join us. But you should stay with me.”

Her lips brush against his just so and she smiles when she leans back, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

+++

A handful of the crew board the small cargo ship before Emma and Killian, dressed in the safety gear and equipped with helmets to ensure that they can breathe in space, head out into the silent darkness using the tether to guide them.

Killian had been worried when he realized what they’d be doing, instead of their usual ability to dock the vessel within his ship, but she’d taken a helmet from the station and had settled it on her head as if she knew exactly what to do with it. He’d sighed, then righted it for her before leaving a sweet kiss to the top of her helmet and moving to get his own on.

“Emma, how are you fairing?” Killian asks through the radio.

She’s never been out in space before in her life, but thankfully it’s only a small trip to the tiny ship they’re boarding and it won’t last much longer. She laughs breathily.

“I’m not going to lie, this is pretty freaking awesome.”

Killian laughs happily. “Aye. It is.” When his boots hit the other ship, Emma watches as he’s let into the ship. “Nice and easy, then, love. Just a few more pulls.”

She makes it and cheers when her feet touch the other ship. It makes Killian chuckle, his eyes alight with his laughter when she enters the airlock chamber.

After it’s sealed off again, they remove their helmets. Emma releases a sigh, taking her fingers through her hair briefly before turning to Killian. “Alright. Let’s do this.”

Emma sets her outer space gear down and grabs the phaser Killian had given to her, ready for anything.

“How’s it look?” the captain asks his crewman standing in the pod with them.

“All clear, sir. There isn’t much here, but there’s something I think the Missus might like.”

Killian arches an eyebrow at her and she smiles, shrugging. “I guess we’ll have to see.”

Emma leads the way down the corridor of the ship, ultimately ending up in the forward of it, smiling when the men grin at her.

“Missus,” Drew Stevens greets her. He looks happy, as if he just won something. “I found something you’re going to love.”

There is a moment of silence before Stevens reaches into a box, pulling out a red leather jacket. Emma immediately smiles.

“I think it’s your size,” he says to her. “I just saw it and I thought you might like it. There are some other clothes in here that should fit you as well.”

Her smile spreads wider and she nods. “This is perfect. Thank you for thinking of me.”

She steps forward and takes the jacket, delighting in the feel of the fabric. She almost feels as if it already belongs to her when she tries it on. It’s an exact fit.

Turning to Killian, she catches him as he swipes his tongue over his lips and smirks. “It suits you quite well, love.”

Emma hums. “I like it.”

“Good,” he says. He turns to his men. “We’ll take the clothes for my wife. Anything else on board?”

“Just a few busted bots. We also found a few crates of oil. There’s a case of frozen food rations, too.”

Killian sighs, clearly not impressed with the findings as he nods, taking his fingers through his hair. “Aye. Very well. Let’s take it all. Pan will have to deal with it.”

+++

When they return to _The Jolly Roger_ , he tells Smee to set course for Neverland and heads back to his quarters to find Emma wearing her new clothes.

They fit her perfectly, almost as if they were made for her. The jeans hug her hips masterfully and she has on a white tank top below the leather jacket, as if the red material weren’t attractive enough on her.

She smirks, lifting an eyebrow as she settles her hands on her hips. “So? What do you think?”

Killian unabashedly trails his eyes from her head to her toes, a permanent grin on his face. “You look bloody fantastic.”

Emma laughs, dropping her hands to her sides. “I’m glad you think so.”

She knows what she’s doing to him and maybe it’s for that reason Killian steps forward, pressing his hand to her hip. Emma looks up at him, her cheeks just a little pink and her lips parted.

“Did I prove myself part of the crew today?” she asks.

He shrugs. “I thought you were already part of the crew.”

Emma hums. “So I _am_ the unofficial chef.”

Killian shakes his head. “No, darling, you are most definitely a pirate in your own right.”

She straightens her chin at him and her eyes brighten at his words. “Really?”

He lifts his hand from her hip and takes her golden tresses in between his fingers, delighting in how soft her hair is.

“A princess wouldn’t insist upon raiding an innocent ship,” he tells her.

Emma doesn’t skip a beat, her voice low, but playful, “I’m not like most princesses. I didn’t exactly know I was a princess for most of my life.”

“Ah, but you did for a while, and still, you use your wiles to lure me in to do your bidding. Such a devious creature, you are.”

“Is it working?” she asks, stepping up onto her toes, her fingers in his hair, pulling him toward her.

He smiles when her lips get close enough to his that he can feel her breath. “Perhaps.”

After they kiss, a gentle thing that feels like _magic_ and has him wanting more, Emma falls back onto her heels, staring up at him.

“Do you remember when we were on Eremus,” he says, pulling his lips into his mouth. “When you used magic? I never got to ask you about it.”

Emma’s small smile fades and she drops her hands from him, her eyes falling to the floor. “Yeah,” she hesitates, looking at him worriedly. “I was born with it. I grew up with Regina and she taught me how to use it, but I never really got a grasp on it. It’s always been… volatile and difficult.”

She takes a step back. “I know it’s weird and I don’t expect you to understand or- I won’t use it anymore. I barely could on Eremus.”

Furrowing his brow, Killian closes the gap between them again. He shakes his head. “I think it’s wonderful.”

She gives him a look, clearly not believing him. “Seriously?”

“Aye,” he says firmly. He lifts his finger to press it against the tip of her nose. “Don’t feel like you need to hide it from me. I find every part of you mesmerizing.”

Emma rolls her eyes, but he pulls a smile from those lips of hers. “If all pirates are this sweet, I don’t think I can be one.”

Killian chuckles. “Not all of us are.”

“Just you?” she asks, teasing him.

In all honesty, he doesn’t see himself as _sweet_ , but with Emma standing here, her scent so intoxicatingly warm, her eyes so bright and shining, he can’t help it when he nods. “Aye. I suppose so.”

+++

Emma can’t sleep, but apparently she isn’t the only one. Killian opens his eye when she turns over onto her side to face him and she sighs.

“After Neverland, where will we go?”

He reaches for one of her hands and holds it. His voice is low and quiet, “I know someone on a planet in the system Blackbeard must’ve traded your parents off. I say we start with them and see if they know anything. If not, we’ve got Robin back on Tortuga we could try.”

Emma cringes at the thought. “I hate Tortuga. I don’t want to go back.”

Killian nods. “Then we’ll just keep searching. I won’t give up.”

He’s told her enough that he’s not going to abandon her, but her experience keeps flashing in her mind and she feels as if her plan of becoming a pirate and staying here was a bad idea. _Settling_ starts to feel like a misguided attempt at normal when her life isn’t normal at all.

What keeps coming to mind is that if her parents are missing, in all likelihood, someone with connections to Regina will have them soon enough.

And if she’s caught and brought back to Regina’s planet, maybe she could find them sooner than she could if she tried sailing the stars with a crew of space pirates, despite how much she has come to appreciate them.

“What if someone figures out who I am?”

Killian shakes his head. “I won’t let them touch you.”

Emma gives him a weary smile. “You don’t know how much I meant to Regina.”

“Perhaps you should tell me.”

For a moment, she stares at him, and then she shakes her head. “There isn’t much to say. She stole me from my family and forced me to learn magic, assuming I’d use it for her bidding. When I didn’t, she got angry and tortured me.” Tears well up in her eyes at the memories.

“And my parents, when they finally were able to get to me with their _wonderful_ plan, told me that Regina was going to use me to destroy planets that wronged her. I was a tool and I still am. I woke up before my parents and now I’m playing house with you because I thought maybe it would help me find my own destiny.”

“You’re not a tool.”

“I’m not?” Emma laughs. “I’m a fugitive.”

The pirate lying beside her looks as if he could shout at her, but he doesn’t, instead knitting his brow tight as he speaks, “I’m a fugitive too. I’m a bloody pirate. I’ve a debt to Pan. But I’m not waiting for the day I get caught.”

Emma sucks in a breath. “Maybe I should sacrifice myself to be caught.”

Killian furrows his brow tighter, somehow. “Why would you want that?”

“Because at least that way I could find them. They’re going to go back to Regina’s planet. I know they will. And if I can be there when they arrive, or if I can meet them there, we’ll be together.”

“That’s the most absurd idea I have ever heard. You’d like to risk your life just to see them for, what, five minutes?” Hook sits up. Clearly she’s riled him up. “If you stay with me, I’ll see to it that you’ll be back in Misthaven, far, far away from danger. You’ll have years to spend together. Not five minutes.”

Emma pulls herself up to sit and stares at him quietly. Clearly, he has feelings for her much deeper than she’d thought he did. And to be fair, her feelings toward him have started to scare her and she isn’t sure how else to handle it other than to consider running. It’s what she does best, after all.

She knows what staying with him means.

She could do it. She could cook for the men and keep Killian company. She could listen to the crew tell her stories and go on missions to board junker ships. She could stay here. She has a week of experience in it already and she doesn’t hate it. She might even come to love it just as much as Killian does.

But in her heart she knows, and she has known through her whole life, that she’s meant for more. Ever thinking she could settle for this life was foolish and laughable, to be honest.

“If I get an opportunity in a month and we haven’t found them, I want you to leave me on a planet somewhere and I’ll turn myself in.” Emma says.

Killian tilts his head at her and frowns sadly. “As you wish.”

Emma isn’t sure what hurts more: his words or the way he rolls onto his side not facing her after he says them.


	12. Chapter 12

twelve

He sits in his chair on the bridge of his ship, not truly wanting to be, but using the opportunity away from Emma to think.

They're nearing their next destination, a planet that will hopefully bring them answers, and while he could be optimistic, he's just furious because Emma wants to sacrifice herself in order to be with her parents again.

He knows she loves her parents, that they were her only true foundation due to Regina’s grip on her, but her thinking at such an extreme is baffling to him.

Does she not trust him enough to find her parents? Does she not trust him at all? 

He knows it’s not going to be easy to find them, but he’s dead set on doing it, and he’d thought she was too. That they’d be able to find them together.

For a little while there, he’d thought they’d made quite a good team.

With only about three hours of sleep in his system, he’s successfully exhausted and he doesn’t doubt that Emma is as well. They’d had such a good past handful of days and her deciding to act so impulsively isn’t good for either one of them.

They’ve spent nights lying restlessly beside one another as they traveled to Neverland and back out again. Pan had been an arse, as he usually is, and Killian had barely been able to get out of there without handing off a member of his crew in trade for his dues.

As he sits watching the stars, he finds himself thinking only of _her_ , however. Of the way her eyes look when she’s studying them for herself, of the way her soft smile feels pressed against his lips, of the color of her hair in the light.

While he loathes himself for it, he _misses_ her, and that’s why he rises to his feet, gives Smee the bridge, and heads back for his quarters.

He sucks in a breath as he stands at the door, hesitant before he opens it.

She’s lying on the bed, above the sheets, her body curled up facing the opposite wall. Her hair is a royal mess, fanned out on the pillow and curling over her arm.

But she’s still Emma and his heart squeezes at the mere sight of her.

Somehow, some way, she’s wedged herself into the beating pulse beneath his ribcage.

The door closes behind him as he steps inside and he sighs heavily before he sits on his side of the bed, facing away from her. “Emma,”

“Yes?”

Killian glances over his shoulder at her and then looks down at the blanket beside him. “We’re almost at the planet I told you about. It’s a trading post of sorts so we’ll need to use extra caution. But I do believe my contact should be able to help us.”

Emma’s quiet and he runs his hand over his face, pinching the bridge of his nose before he rakes his fingers through his hair.

He settles down on his back beside her, keeping his gaze on the metal ceiling. He listens to her breathing, to the sound of her hair when she shifts her head on her pillow.

He listens to the hum of his ship and imagines he can hear the sound of a million, billion stars surrounding them, all of them shining, all of them singing the song they’ve sung for as long as time itself.

He hears his heart, beating steadily within his chest, joining that song in the stars. For a long time, it’s all he had to occupy his restless mind, considering the song the universe sings.

Last week, he thought it sang _love_ , but this week, he’s keen to believe it sings something else entirely.

“Okay,” she finally replies, her voice quiet.

He shuts his eyes and sighs through his nose. “Emma, why are you doing this?”

“I need to find them,” she says firmly. “I’m not just going to search around until I’m a hundred years old. I want to have a life with them.”

He shakes his head. “You don’t _trust_ me.”

Emma suddenly turns around, making him open his eyes again. Her gaze is frighteningly sharp, the green hue shining with tears.

His heartbeat roars in his ears now and melancholy washes over him in a wave because as much as he’d like to hear that she trusts him, what good does it do him?

She shakes her head. “Of course I trust you,”

“Then why won’t you let me help you?”

She stares at him silently, but doesn’t say anything. She turns away from him again.

“I don’t belong here, Killian,” she whispers instead of the admission she isn’t ready to speak, “I can try but it won’t ever be my home.”

Killian presses his hand over his eyes as he turns his gaze upward again.

All he can think about is how close they’ve gotten, at how his heart aches every time he thinks of the decision she’s made.

He wonders if she knows she has this impact on him, that he’s effectively ruined for the rest of his days because of the taste of her lips and the cadence of her laughter.

“Why would you kiss me if you can’t see a home here?” he asks quietly, so quietly he isn’t sure she hears him. He’s glad for that.

His stomach twists and he can’t find a single peaceful thought to land on.

Despite his better judgment, he looks at her, and she stares back at him, her lips parting with words she can’t speak. And somehow, he feels better, looking into her face.

“I’m not going to stop fighting,” he promises her. “I’ll find your parents.”

Emma’s responding smile is fragile and he shifts, leaning in so he can kiss her forehead in a lingering press of his lips.

When he meets her eyes again, he feels his heart squeeze tight with desperation and he practically loses the air from his lungs at how she stares at him so longingly.

As he turns away, he wonders if she’ll ever let him find a home in her, because he’d certainly allow her a home in him.

+++

The planet is busy, as Killian had told her it would be. It allows more places for her to blend into the crowd, but it also is cause for tension, because at nearly every turn, there are police and countless undercover parties.

Everyone seems to want to keep to themselves, meeting Emma’s gaze for mere seconds before flitting away, a speed in their step.

It’s enough to scare her a little, because while she wants to get caught, she doesn’t think she wants it right now. Killian’s still here and they haven’t found his contact yet. She’s willing to give him his month, but when it’s finished, she’ll be willing to let one of these suspicious looking dark characters take her in.

Emma stays at Killian’s side at his request. They’re both wearing cloaks that conceal their identities, covering their heads, as they walk through the dusty marketplace.

At least twice every step she takes, she’s bombarded with merchants trying to get her to purchase their goods, to try their food, or to test their perfumes. It’s the busiest place she’s ever been in her whole life, and it’s overwhelming, being in the middle of a crowded walkway and being sold to so viciously.

She’s sprayed once or twice, but Killian promptly puts an end to it when he shouts at them, “Sod off! My wife doesn’t need your baubles and if she did _I_ would purchase them for her!”

Emma’s heart lifts into her throat at the mention of the game they’ve been playing and she finds his hand, giving it a thankful squeeze as she looks up to meet his eyes. He stares at her sadly, almost, and tips his head forward, reminding her silently of their goal.

Keeping their heads ducked, they make it through the crowd to a building behind a food vendor and Killian knocks three times on the door. They only wait a few seconds before it opens.

Inside, a woman stands, her hair dark, her outfit red, and her smile wide. She has a gun on her hip and a streak of color in her hair, as well as something technological on her wrist. She sets her hand on her hip and shakes her head slowly.

“Well if it isn’t Captain Hook,” she says. “Finally back to give me a tour of your ship?”

Killian opens his mouth, a smile twitching at the corners of his lips, and he tilts his head at her. “Not quite, love.”

Regardless of the pout on her lips, the woman allows them into her home, and Emma takes in the place with a confused feeling in her gut.

It’s something like a pigsty, with cots that provide a place for several children to rest and belongings literally on every surface possible. From somewhere in the house, Emma can make out the sound of a woman chewing someone else out, and there’s the definite smell of home cooking.

Killian’s acquaintance leads them through the house until they reach a flight of stairs that takes them up into an attic, something of a safe haven from the noise and seemingly endless amount of sleeping children.

The room they stand in is essentially a storage room, with a bed in the corner. Crates upon crates line the walls and there’s hardly any room to move, but Emma supposes it’s better than talking downstairs where they might be overheard.

The woman turns to them, smiling wide at Emma, then at Killian, whom she lifts her eyebrow at.

“So, are you going to introduce us?”

Emma takes down her hood as Killian gestures between the two women. “Red, this is Emma. Emma, this is Red.”

Red stares at Emma for a few seconds, clearly eying her up, and nods. “Nice to meet you, Emma.”

She glances up at Killian and he sighs. Clearly there’s a backstory here that Emma is unaware of.

“Aye,” he mumbles. “She’s my wife.”

Red’s grin spreads and she nods warmly. “That’s what I thought.” Red tucks her hair behind her ears as she teases Emma, “The last time he came here, he was _tragically_ single and I told him he better come back at least with some prospects on a lady, because he certainly needed one at the time. But I’m sure I don’t need to tell you about that.”

Emma doesn’t know what to say, so she looks up at Killian and shrugs. “I guess when you meet the right person you want to be the best you can for them.”

He nods in agreement. “Fixed me right up,” he says through sad eyes and a forced grin. His voice is soft and weak and he has to clear his throat before he turns back to Red. “I’ve run into some trouble. Blackbeard was here a little over a week ago. He traded some freezing units for rum for his crew and I need those units back. They were mine to begin with and he stole them from me.”

Red hums. “Well, I remember hearing he was here, but I don’t know what I can do about the trade.” She stares thoughtfully at Killian for a few moments. “Actually, you know what? I heard something from a friend of mine last week about some freezing units. He said some guy picked them up from the space station on Wednesday. Something about the guy was weird, though. He paid in cash and he wouldn’t give a name. Apparently he was flying a decently sized rig, but he didn’t have any crew to man it.”

“He paid in cash,” Killian says, shaking his head in disbelief. “How much were they sold for?”

Red shrugs. “Couple thousand, I’d guess. They’re freezing units. Kind of illegal. I can’t blame him for wanting to use cash.”

Killian sighs, raking his fingers through his hair as he starts to pace. “Well, did you hear anything about where he headed or was that all?”

Frowning, Red shakes her head. “That’s all I heard. I’m sorry. Had I known you were looking for them I would’ve gotten more information for you.”

There’s a moment of silence and Emma can’t help but feel sad. They’d been idle for far too long but she can’t blame Killian for doing what he had to do in order to keep them safe.

“It’s alright,” Killian finally sighs. “Um… thank you, Red.”

Red arches an eyebrow at him, her smile curling wolfishly. “You can thank me by doing me a favor.”

“Red-”

The woman sticks her lower lip out as she lowers her shoulders, her knees bending. “Come on. It’s just two passengers.”

Killian grits his teeth, giving Emma a sideways glance. “I don’t think that’s a particularly good idea, love.”

Emma meets Red’s eyes. Red gives her a pleading look.

“I don’t think it’s an awful idea,” Emma chirps up. She presses her hand to Killian’s arm and his posture softens. “We have the space, don’t we?”

Killian stares at her with a look that could probably kill and Red claps her hands together as soon as he says, “Aye. I suppose we do.”

“Great!”

+++

Killian keeps Emma at his side as they walk the market again. Her fingers are wrapped tightly around his and he keeps wanting to look at her, but he instead keeps vendors at bay with an angry snarl, half tempted to pull out his hook.

They’re heading for a pick-up destination, a little shop located near the ship port. When they reach it, there’s a man rushing inside, his leg slowing him down a bit, glancing over his shoulder as if he’s on the run. He holds Emma closer, fear boiling up within him at the prospect of them being caught.

He knows it’s ridiculous, because Emma practically _wants_ to be caught and taken, but he’d rather have her with him for the month she’s allotted him, if that’s all he’s given. Call him selfish, but he isn’t ready to let her go yet.

When he enters the establishment, he turns to Emma and murmurs low, in her ear, “Keep your hood up, love. We’ve a bounty on our heads.”

Thankfully, she obliges, and he scans the room in search of the persons Red had asked him to come find.

Two women sit at a table in the corner of the room. They keep glancing around, as if nervous, and it’s what draws him to them. Emma keeps at his side, though she lets go of his hand, and when they reach the pair, he merely sets the slip of paper Red had sent them with on the table.

“Follow in two minutes.”

One of the women, the blonde, with startling green eyes, nods, her soft smile thankful. The other woman, a redhead, straightens, giving her companion a worried look.

“Elsa, what about that man?” She’s looking beyond Killian and Emma, and when he turns to see, she’s staring at the man who’d come into the establishment moments before them.

“We don’t know him well enough, Anna. We only met him yesterday.” Elsa, the blonde, replies. “We shouldn’t burden them.”

“But he’s wounded.”

Emma turns to see the man behind them and then looks right up at him, not having to say what she does for her expression is worried enough as it is. “It wouldn’t hurt, would it?”

Killian sighs. “Fine.” He turns to the women at the table. “You’ll bring him along with you.”

It feels a little too dangerous here. The air is thick with it and he keeps seeing people staring at him for moments too long to be considered casual.

As he and Emma walk toward the door again, he sets his sights on the man, finding him seated by the window, his face contorted in pain. He has a head of dark hair and his cheeks are filled with the color as well. He’s in plain clothes, but that doesn’t mean anything.

The stranger meets Killian’s eyes and for a second too long, Killian stares back, feeling as if the stranger knows exactly who he is.

“Bloody hell,” he murmurs under his breath, breaking eye contact before he can say or do anything else.

“What?” Emma asks worriedly.

Killian shakes his head. “He recognized me,”

“Well, you’ve been here before,” she rationalizes. “Maybe it’s not a big deal. People must recognize you a lot, right?”

For a second he thinks that the way the stranger stared was too suspicious, but then lets go of it with a curt nod. “Aye.”

Maybe he’s _too_ invested in making sure Emma doesn’t get caught.

+++

By the time they reach the ship, Emma senses Killian’s distrust for the planet they’ve landed on. He can’t seem to stop glancing over his shoulder like some paranoid criminal on the run. Which they are, but it hasn’t made him like this before.

“We’re going to be okay,” she tells him as they stand just inside of the ship.

Killian removes his hood and turns to Smee, leaving Emma’s statement ignored, “We’re taking on three passengers.”

Mister Smee gets a concerned look on his face. “Cap, I thought we wanted to keep things… quiet.”

With a heavy sigh, Killian nods. He looks so weary now, as if he can’t believe that his day has afforded him so much stress. “Aye. But Red wanted my help and I’m never able to say no to her.”

Smee meets Emma’s eyes and he tips his head wearily. “Aye, Captain. Where are they headed?”

“Arendelle,” Killian says.

Smee’s eyes widen. “Really, sir? All the way to Arendelle?”

Killian tenses and grits his teeth. “It isn’t that far from here.” He pauses, turning to look outside for their passengers. “I didn’t want to take them. She knows just as well as I do that it’s dangerous here.”

“The girls didn’t seem dangerous,” Emma offers.

He stares at the outside for a beat in complete silence. “It’s not the girls I’m concerned about.”

As if on cue, the party of three approach the ship, the girls holding the injured man between them, and when they’re close enough, Killian and Emma both help them aboard.

“What happened to you?” Killian asks the man when they enter the hull of the ship. He turns to Smee, “Close the door. Get us out of here quickly, Smee.”

As he presses a button on the wall, Smee nods. “Aye aye, sir.”

Emma watches the stranger. They set him down on the floor of the hull, leaned up against the wall, and he cringes as he reaches out for his leg. He’s soaked in sweat, his forehead shining so brightly that it reflects the light in the ship.

“Phaser burn,” he explains through panted breaths. “But I’ll be fine.”

He shakes and his fingers tremble when he tries to roll up his pant leg. It’s so clear to all of them that he’s absolutely _not_ fine.

“You won’t be fine,” the blonde girl, Elsa, Emma thinks her name is, says determinedly.

She drops down beside the man, leaning over his leg. She rolls up the fabric and then studies the wounded flesh, burning and oozing, blood pouring out on the metal floor.

“Bloody hell,” the man curses, throwing his head back when Elsa presses her fingers to the flesh nearest the wound.

Emma cringes, remembering quite well how it had felt to be burned. She looks to Killian, who studies the sight before him with a heaving chest and a furrowed brow. “Can we use the machine?”

He shakes his head but doesn’t say anything.

Emma opens her mouth to react, but stops when Elsa says, “This might sting a little.”

Emma turns, staring at the scene before her confusedly. Elsa presses her fingers to the wound, but she uses _magic_. Bright white, pulsing magic, that startles Emma so much that she steps back.

She hadn’t thought that anyone else had magic.

There’s a heartbeat of wonder as they all watch Elsa heal the injured stranger and when it’s over, Emma just stares at the woman in awe.

“What the hell?” Emma asks breathlessly.

The woman smiles softly. “Sorry. I guess I should have explained. I have magic.”

“Magic,” Emma states.

Elsa laughs under her breath. “Yes. I usually don’t have to use it.”

The stranger inspects the place he’d been once wounded and then looks up at Elsa. “Thank you. Truly.”

“You’re very welcome,” Elsa says politely, bowing her head as a queen might. She rises up to her feet and turns back to Killian and Emma. “Now, Captain, my name is Elsa, and this is my sister Anna. We seek passage to Arendelle as quickly as you possibly can make it.”

“Aye,” Killian nods. “Red told me. What business do you have on Arendelle, if you don’t mind my asking?”

Elsa and Anna exchange a soft smile before Elsa turns back to them again. “I’m the queen. My sister is the princess. We were here on business but something happened to our transit and my sister’s husband is terribly worried about us.”

Emma meets the redhead’s eyes and they both smile a little. “We’ve only been gone a week. But I guess it might have been for the best if we told him _before_ we left.”

“Yes. Definitely.” Elsa laughs.

The stranger stands to his feet and Emma studies him. He’s dressed casually, his colors blue, and he has even bluer eyes. His voice reminds her of Killian’s, only thicker, and he has curls in his hair that Killian doesn’t have.

He meets Emma’s gaze suddenly and it shocks her, but she can’t look away. He pulls on a gentle smile.

“My name’s Graham,” he tells them. “I’m looking for passage to no place in particular. I’m just trying to find someone.”

When Emma turns to look at Killian, he has a dark look on his face. His jaw clenches and he puts his hand over the curve of his hook.

“Graham helped us,” Anna chirps up. “He saved Elsa from being shot last night in the street.”

Emma takes a breath and nods. “Well, we’re glad to have you. All of you.” Turning to Killian, Emma meets his eyes. “We need to talk.”

He tilts his head to the side and snarks, “I’ve found when a woman says that, I’m rarely in for a pleasant conversation.”

Emma gives him as dirty a look as she can muster up before she replies, “I’ll be in your quarters.”

+++

After settling the royalty into a makeshift bedroom and tossing _Graham_ into the crew’s quarters, Killian makes his way to his cabin. He has a fairly good idea as to where this is going, and maybe that’s why he’s dragging his feet by the time he reaches the doors.

With a heavy sigh, he steps inside. He disregards his cloak, finally, setting it on the end of his bed, and turns to find Emma standing in the living area, her arms folded to her chest as she stands by the windows.

Emma turns to him as he steps down into the room. He runs his fingers over the curve of his hook and, like a child, he keeps his head down as he prepares to be scolded.

When Emma doesn’t say anything, he looks at her again. She has tears in her eyes; a sight he’s monumentally confused by.

“What is it, love?” he asks.

Emma shakes her head.

“I’m not the only one who has magic,” she says, a weak smile on her lips. “All these years I thought I was one of the only people in the universe, but I’m not alone.”

Killian studies her as she presses her hands to her face. She pulls them away after a moment and turns toward him directly, exhaling. “I’m so tired. I wish I could sleep but I can’t.”

He sighs heavily. “Aye. Neither can I.”

Emma stares at him and he wonders if she knows why he can’t sleep. If she, too, listens to the song of the universe and contemplates what it means while she’s lying there beside him in their hours of restlessness.

He finds something in the way she’s staring at him. He thinks it’s trust, but it’s more than that. Part of him thinks it’s _love_ but he isn’t foolish enough to admit it to even himself, because she’s halfway out the door already.

“I’m sorry I put a time limit on this but I have no choice,” she explains. “If I stay here too long anything could happen to them. For all I know they’re already in the wrong hands.”

Killian scoffs. “And who’s to say if you’re taken back to Regina, or to the police, or to whomever has claim over your bounty now, that you won’t discover that your parents aren’t there? That they’re still lost in space somewhere and you’re bound into a life you don’t want again because you wouldn’t give it time?”

Emma blinks at him. “I guess that’s the risk I’m taking.”

He shakes his head. “But you don’t _have_ to take it.”

She tilts her head at him. “I really don’t want to have this conversation with you right now.”

Killian studies her and steps closer toward her, stopping when he’s able to reach out to touch her. He doesn’t.

“We’re in this together,” he tells her lowly. “I’m the one who found you to begin with. I’ll never sleep again if I can’t fix this.”

Emma’s eyes are filled with sadness that he reciprocates. “And how are you going to fix it? You still haven’t found your Heart of the Truest Believer and Pan sent you looking for it _how_ long ago?”

Killian curls his fingers into his palm and grits his teeth. He ignores her accusation and shakes his head. “I’m not going to give up just because we haven’t found a single clue that’s gotten us close to finding them.”

“How are we going to ever get past that, Killian?” she asks, tears in her eyes. “The only clues we got today were that some guy took my parents onto his crewless ship and he could be anywhere by now.”

He shakes his head. “Just _trust_ me. I know what I’m doing. I know where we can try to go in order to find them. It isn’t impossible… it’s just incredibly difficult.”

A tiny smile tugs at the corners of her lips. “Well, you are a pirate.”

“Aye, that I am,” he says in reply, looking down for a moment. He looks up again and steps a little closer. “But I also believe in good form.”

He studies her and considers everything that he’s seen in her, how beautiful she is, how intricate the stars are in her eyes, and how sweet her laughter sounds. And all he wants is to hear it for the rest of his life.

“When I win your heart, Emma, and I will win it, it will not be because of any trickery, it will be because you want me.”

Emma blinks at him, clearly not have anticipated him to say such a thing.

Killian watches her for a moment longer, and then turns around, heading for the doors. “I’ll be on the bridge if you need me.”


End file.
